DIMAPUR, JULY 27 (MExN): As the face-off between the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce (DCC) and the Naga Council Dimapur continues over the issue of ‘Naga Commission’, the former today stuck to its earlier stand for total revocation of the ‘commission’. President of the DCC Kashito Yeptho speaking to media persons Tuesday, July 27 said that the verdict now lies with the “public and the government”.
“As time changes even in laws can be amended”, the DCC president commented. The market is already over-burdened with high taxation, legal and illegal, Yeptho said and that it will only worsen the situation. “Ultimately it’s the consumers who will suffer” he said. He also reminded that nowhere else is an NGO allowed to collect “tax”.
A copy of the extension order of the ‘Naga Commission’ for another three months from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur dated July 13, 2010 was also produced. It mentioned the items on which the Naga Council can levy ‘commission’. The tax turnover from the listed items will run into crores of rupees annually, the DCC president said. Moreover, the persons who issue the ‘challans’ on the field is charging more than the specified or allowed amount, he added.
The permit was however, kept in abeyance following a later order from the DC’s office. On the Naga Council’s demand for revocation of the ‘abeyance order’, the DCC president stated that a clause in the order clearly mentions that the permit is “subject to cancellation without any notice.” Further, the ‘commission’ is not ‘hereditary’. He also said the DCC have already received complaints from members of the business community expressing negative concern on the commission.
Clearly irked by the Naga Council’s suggestion for ‘restructuring’ the DCC set up at a meeting held on July 27, Yeptho countered that the DCC as a business body is not working for personal interests rather for the larger interest of the public in general. The DCC president also took cognizance of a resolution adopted at the meeting whereby a proposal would be put forward to the district administration for the formation of a ‘high powered committee’ to study and check unauthorized taxation and price rise. How come the DCC was not considered as member in the proposed committee, Yeptho questioned. “This really indicates they have personal grudges”, he stated.
