Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called the recent reservations about tax imposed by local bodies an exaggeration and defended the rights of the local bodies to impose the same.
Speaking on the current domestic issues during his briefing to the parliament about the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit, he pointed at how the constitution has authorized the local bodies to impose tax.
He argued that one cannot say the Singh Durbar has been taken to the local level on the one hand and cry foul when the local bodies impose tax.
He also took a dig at the opposition for protesting the rise in scope and rates of tax. "You say that education and health services should be free on the one hand and then argue we cannot collect tax," he stated. "How is that economically viable?"
He expressed sorrow on the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta in Kanchanpur and expressed commitment to punish the guilty. "This is a matter of collective sorrow and concern," he said about the Kanchanpur case and rising incidents of rape across the country.
He said the government had to trust its structures and go by the police investigation at the beginning and pointed at how it intervened and took action against the police officers and transferred the Chief District Officer once there were complaints about the investigations.
He also took swipe at the opposition and even media for slamming the government for the new General Code that has come into implementation only recently pointing how it was passed a year back, and prepared by lawmakers of the previous parliament including those from the current opposition parties.
He briefed the House about the upcoming BIMSTEC Summit and opined that the forum should be moved forward in an effective manner for regional development and cooperation. He also allayed fears about prioritization of BIMSTEC at the cost of SAARC. "BIMSTEC and SAARC are not mutually exclusive forums," he stressed.
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