The Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture at Golpark has reportedly not cleared its property tax and at present the outstanding amount is Rs 94 lakh. The Institute had appealed to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for tax exemption on the grounds of social work.
But the civic body has made it clear that it will not spare the social institute and will see that the dues are cleared at the earliest. The institute's building was declared a heritage site by the civic body's heritage commission in 1999.
"I do agree that the institute does a lot of social work. But the institute does charge a good amount of money for teaching languages. If Ramkrishna Mission has enough money to buy properties, why can't they pay property tax to the civic body?" asked Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. "They had asked for tax exemption way back in 1982."
The situation in Missionaries of Charity is no different. "We have made it clear to the Missionaries of Charity that they will not enjoy any tax exemption," Bhattacharya said.
The civic authorities made it clear today that though the civic body is ready to exempt the arrears, the due tax amount will be collected from charitable institutions.
Trinamool councillor, Anup Chatterjee, today raised the issue of outstanding property tax of the institute in the monthly meet of the civic body.
Source:The Indian Express
