The cess, which will be paid by students indirectly, comes to Rs 1,000 annually, and will add to the financial woes of students, who already shell out huge amount as fees, and for accommodation and other expenditure.
The Kota Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to raise Rs 15 crore annually from this cess on Coaching students.
The proposal was put forward by KMC commissioner at a revenue committee meeting held on Monday. The cess will have to be paid by all coaching institutes with over 250 students. According to sources, KMC is aiming to collect Rs 1,000 each from 1.5 lakh students of 15-odd coaching institutes. The municipal corporation spends about Rs 65 crore annually on cleaning works in the city.
“If coaching institutes have to financially contribute for ‘swachhta’ in the city, it should not be at the cost of students,” said Manoj Meena, a JEE aspirant from Sangod.
Students from different various parts of the country come to Kota, referred to as the coaching capital of the country.
A lot of them are accompanied by their family and stay in rented accommodation.
KMC will now table the proposal at its board meeting scheduled for December. “The proposal to levy ‘swachhta’ cess of Rs 1,000 from each student in private schools, colleges and coaching institutes in the city was forwarded by the commissioner at the revenue committee meeting on Monday. But following opposition by other members, including deputy mayor Sunita Vyas, private schools and colleges were exempted from it,” said Mahesh Gautam Lalli, chairman, revenue committee, KMC.
The proposal has drawn flak from students and coaching institutes.
The opposition in KMC too has come out against it. “We have protested against the proposed ‘swachhta’ cess. But, it is fair to collect the cess from coaching centres. It should not be taken from students,” said Anil Suwalka, leader of opposition, KMC.
However, social activists said the new cess would encourage corruption. “The proposed ‘swachhta’ cess will only boost corruption in KMC which has failed to properly utilize crores of rupees meant for the purpose,” Vajay Paliwal, an RTI activist in Kota.
But it’s not Kota alone, the cess will soon be imposed on coaching institutes in Jaipur too. “We are planning to impose a ‘swachhta’ tax on coaching institutes in Jaipur. For the purpose, we need to formulate bylaws,” said Jaipur mayor Ashok Lahoti.
“There was a proposal to levy Rs 500 as swachhta tax from each coaching institute, but it has not been imposed yet by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC),” said an official of a coaching centre in Jaipur.
In June, JMC had sealed five coaching centers for allegedly flouting sanitation norms.
Coaching institutes have joined the protest as they already pay a tax, including 18% SGST on education, and allege that the levy of another tax in the name of ‘swachhta’ is unfair.
However, a section of activists have welcomed the proposal and termed it the right move to make Kota a smart city and boost public partnership for Swacch Bharat Mission.
Source : timesofindia
