34 mandals in Krishna show 0% tax revenue

Vijayawada: Majority panchayats in Krishna district failed to collect taxes registering zero per cent progress. According to officials, the total villages in 34 mandals out of 50 mandals in the district did not collect even a single rupee from the people. The pending due is Rs 20 crore and it should be collected before the closure of current financial year, said the officials.

Now, the district administration is keen to collect taxes in the villages as per the fixation since the government had selected the district to implement various innovative schemes and plans for development of villages. The villages in the district were already selected for protected drinking water scheme.

As per the scheme, protected drinking water would be supplied at doorstep of every village. Likewise, the Panchayat Raj Department has plans to introduce underground drainage scheme and rankings to the panchayats in Krishna district.

The government could implement the pilot project for schemes in the district, if the taxes are collected from public as per the rules, said one Panchayat Raj department official. The district administration instructed the panchayats to collect taxes including house tax, revenue tax, library fees and water charges.

But contrary to the plans, several mandals did not collect even a single rupee. The mandals Gudlavalleru, Mandavalli, Nandiwada, Avanigadda, Guduru, Koduru, Kruttivennu, Machilipatnam, Mopidevi, Nagayalanka, Pedana, A Konduru, Agiripalli, Chatrai, Gampalagudem, Gannavaram, Musunuru, Nuzvid, Pamidimukkala, Reddygudem, Tiruvuru, Vissannakota, Chandarlapadu, G Konduru, Nandigama, Peniganchiprolu, Veerulapadu and Vijayawada Rural are in the list of zero tax collection mandals.  

However, district collector B Lakshmikantham instructed the officials to collect the total tax dues from panchayats in the district by March 31. All the details of taxes of panchayats should be displayed online, he directed the officials. The taxes collection and some other eight issues on village development should be reviewed as part of proposed rankings to be given to villages, he said.