look news india
Chandigarh : The scheme of free travel for women in government buses started during the Congress government has now become a noose around the neck of the government. The government has neither been able to stop this scheme nor is it spending Rs 600 crore to keep it going. To continue this scheme, the government has increased the green tax on old vehicles and the motor vehicle tax on the purchase of new vehicles from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent. It is estimated that the government will get an additional revenue of Rs 150 crore.
The Punjab government, which is facing an economic crisis, currently has a debt of Rs 3.27 lakh crore. The government has to pay interest of Rs 22,000 crore on this loan. Along with this, the Punjab government is facing a burden of about Rs 20 thousand crore for agricultural connections and giving 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers. Amidst the economic challenges, free bus service for women remains a big challenge for the transport department. Despite the subsidy given by the government to the transport department, the transport department is facing difficulties in daily expenses due to delay in payment. Along with this, the daily income of the transport department has also decreased drastically due to the free bus service scheme. In view of this, the government has now implemented two new taxes.
According to the information, the government is planning to launch a smart card scheme to reduce the free bus service for women. Limited travel will be arranged through this smart card. Although the government has not yet taken a final decision on this, on the other hand, it has managed to earn additional income of about Rs 150 crore by increasing the rates of green tax and motor vehicle tax. The government is estimating an income of Rs 34 crore from green tax. If people want to keep a 15-year-old vehicle, they will have to pay green tax. The government believes that if people hesitate to pay this tax, they will remove their vehicles from the road. In such a situation, they will buy a new vehicle, which will give GST and motor vehicle tax to the government. Till now people were reluctant to remove old vehicles from the road due to non-payment of this tax.
