Revenue officers should work to encourage tax payers: President
New Delhi, Aug 30 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said that Indian Revenue Service officers should discharge their duty in a way that it could encourage honest tax payers as the department had primary responsibility of ensuring tax resources to fund different aspects of national development.
Kovind's suggestion came while he was addressing a group of probationers of the 68th batch of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"As administrators, it is the primary duty of Indian Revenue Service officers to ensure that our country has the tax resources to fund different aspects of national development - be it building infrastructure in rural and urban areas, schools and hospitals, defence and security and so on. They have to discharge their duty in a way that encourages honest tax compliance with minimum discomfort to tax payers," the President said.
Addressing the probationers, the President said taxes have been the building block of governance since ages. "In ancient times, rulers and kingdoms were judged by the kind of tax systems they had."
The President also said that a nation's tax structure should be just, efficient, honest and equitable.
Kovind also praised the Indian Revenue Service for its role in the successful implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
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Health dept to probe into claim about Pune hospital's refusal to admit pregnant woman
Pune (PTI): Maharashtra Minister Prakash Abitkar on Friday said a senior official of the health department will conduct an inquiry into the incident in which a hospital in Pune allegedly refused to admit a pregnant woman due to the non-payment of an advance deposit of Rs 10 lakh.
The alleged incident took place at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, and the woman, Tanisha Bhise, wife of BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe's personal assistant, died after giving birth to twin girls at another hospital.
Talking to PTI, Abitkar said, "We have asked the deputy director of the health department to inquire into what exactly happened at the hospital. After we receive his report, we will take necessary action if the hospital is found to be in the wrong."
Workers of opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT) Congress and the NCP (SP), staged protests outside the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and even threw coins at one of the hospital staffers.
Police have been deployed in large numbers outside the facility to prevent untoward incidents.
MLC Gorkhe had on Thursday claimed that despite an assurance to pay Rs 3 lakh immediately, the hospital denied admission to the patient, and even a call from the Mantralaya did not yield any response from them.
The hospital, however, refuted the allegations and blamed the woman's kin for giving "misleading information".
The hospital's medical director, Dr Dhananjay Kelkar, had said they would prepare a detailed report about the incident and submit it to the health department.
