Briefing the Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly here on Wednesday, the Board of Revenue’s Shazar Shamoon said that both public sector organisations had started residential schemes offering plots to the public. While these schemes have since been completed and people have started living there, the authorities have failed to grant lease orders even after receiving full payments.
“I request the lawmakers to please agitate this issue at the floor of the assembly, so that people can have their properties allotted to them,’ Shamoon said.
MPA Shama Arif Mithiani, a member of the PAC, agreed with the suggestion and assured that they would raise the issue in the coming session.
Revenue officials and deputy commissioners of all districts of the province attended the meeting which was chaired by Jam Tamachi Unar.
They were informed that most of the deputy commissioners in the province are not even aware about Agriculture Income Tax which can help generate billions of rupees. A major chunk of the revenue being recovered under this head is pocketed by Patwaris of the revenue department.
Reviewing the audit observations for the years 2006-7, 2007-8, and 2008-9, the PAC expressed its concern over the failure of the revenue department to recover Rs308 million. Most of the amount has reportedly been misappropriated by officials. Not a single para of the audit report was settled and PAC chairman directed the officials to present the original record and recover the misappropriated amount within a month.
Audit DG Ghulam Akbar Sohu briefed the meeting about massive discrepancies in the accounts of revenue department in all districts. He said that the amount recovered in the name of land tax, Abiana, agriculture income tax and the local cess have either been bungled or embezzled by officials.
Sohu said that revenue officials did not recover the land tax amounting to Rs50 million in 2006-7. “There is zero recovery in Sukkur, Dadu, Larkana, Jacobabad, Tando Muhammad Khan and Sanghar districts and officials have offered lame excuses,” he said.
It was the same case with Abiana. Against a target of Rs316.22 million for the last four years, the revenue department could get back Rs8.204 million, the DG said.
Shazar Shamoon said that not only patwaris (tapedars) are involved in irregularities and misappropriation, but the share even goes to higher officials.
Unar said that a land owner with more than 50 acres is supposed to pay agriculture income tax. “No revenue official turns up to get the land tax as they used to earlier,” he said. “This is very unfortunate that our revenue officials are not aware about this important tax.”
The deputy commissioners complained that even though the commissionerate system has been restored, they have not been given powers to establish writ of the government. “We have no magisterial powers to take action and impose penalty on the violators. It’s as if we are sitting dummies,” the Hyderabad DC said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2012.
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