Silchar Citizens Form "Pragatishil Nagarik Mancha" to Protest Civic Tax Hike

SILCHAR: Amid much debate over the hike in civic tax recently, leading citizens of Silchar resolved to launch agitation. A pressure group named, “Pragatishil Nagarik Mancha” was formed following a citizens’ meeting on Sunday. In its first meeting, the newly formed group, with the former vice-chancellor of Assam University, professor Tapodhir Bhattacharjee, as president and a senior BJP leader, Basudev Sarma, as secretary, urged the citizens not to pay the civic tax until Silchar has an elected municipal body. It was a well-planned conspiracy by the government not to hold the civic body poll on the pretext that only after Silchar is upgraded as a corporation would the civic body election be held.

Since 2020, the Silchar Municipality Board has been run by government representatives, as the election was stalled following the state government’s decision to upgrade the city as a corporation. But surprisingly, the civic body poll was postponed without any proper and solid ground. Last year, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, during his tour in Silchar, said that whenever the local representatives wished, the government was ready to hold the election. But neither the MLA, Dipayan Chakrabarty, nor the former MP, Dr Rajdeep Roy, seemed to be interested, as no move from their end could be seen.

The people of Silchar were extremely aggrieved by the recent developments. The second-largest city in the state had horrible roads. In this backdrop, the recent step by the authority to hike the municipal tax had fuelled the anger further.

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