I was aghast at the clarification issued by Mr. Orenthung Lotha, CEO of DMC in response to ACAUT’s demand to remove DMC Vet doctor. Had the CEO clarified under which section of “The Nagaland Municipal Council Act, 2006 the so-called inspection fee was levied, the public would have been convinced. So also the matter would have ended then and there. The educated publics are not so naïve as not to understand that whatever tax or fee is levied outside the provision of the Municipal Act is illegal. Any additional tax or fee to be levied has to be given new provision(s) in the Act through an amendment by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
Charging inspection fee is a question of legality and not reason. If there is any good reason that should be justified by legalization. When the DMC Vet doctor and staff of PH cell are already in the payroll of the government, taxes or fees could not be levied at will on the basis of the nature or quantum of work however good the intention may be. There are other ways that the DMC can device to reward the hard working staff or ease the over-worked staff. The business community and the consumers should not be made the first casualty in the scheme of things.
His clarification implied that tax is illegal whereas inspection fee is not. Just because the inspection fee is directly deposited to the office it does not legalize the action. It is a question of accountability which is applicable only in legal transaction.
The DMC rates quoted as inspection fee implied that compared to the number of animals inspected per day and quantum of work carried out by the Vety. & PH cell staff, the fee is very nominal. When thousands of animals are inspected per day, the rates quoted by no means could be termed nominal. The CEO also failed to clarify whether modern diagnostic equipment are used for inspection. If inspection is done by mere trained eyes and hands only, the inspection fee however nominal is unjustified even if legal by any chance.
Municipal election is long over-due. It is unfortunate that the urban local bodies (ULB) under the administration of the executives considered lesser evil has not lived up to the expectation of the people. It is high time that people of Nagaland demand for Municipal elections to install popular ULB and free ourselves from the shackle of ad-hoc machinations.
Dr. K. Hoshi
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