KARACHI: Sindh Excise and Taxation Minister Mukesh Chawla faced embarrassment and had no answer when Pakistan Muslim League-Functional legislator Nusrat Abbasi pointed out that his statements made in the legislature on Thursday conflicted with what the chief minister had said a couple of days back regarding spread of drug addiction in the province.

He was responding to the legislators’ queries during Question Hour that pertained to the excise and taxation department in Sindh Assembly’s Thursday session.

Responding to a question by Ms Abbasi about whether the menace of drugs was spreading in the province, minister Chawla categorically said no. To this Ms Abbasi pointed out that Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during a meeting a few days back had said the menace of drugs was spreading in the province and had also asked all agencies to work jointly to counter and check the rapidly spreading drug menace. She asked Mr Chawla repeatedly as to who was telling the truth and who was exercising extreme economy with the truth — himself or the chief minister. The minister in response remained quiet.

Motor vehicle tax

Muttahida Qaumi Movement legislator Kamran Akhtar raised a question regarding the motor vehicle tax collected from Karachi and the rest of the province during 2016-17 (up to February). The minister said that over Rs1.3 billion was collected from the metropolis, while over Rs469 million (Hyderabad Rs 229m; Sukkur Rs119m; Larkana Rs42m; Mirpurkhas Rs25m; and Benazirabad Rs54m) was collected from the rest of the province.

Responding to another of his questions regarding the number of motorcycles registered in the province and tax collected during 2016-17, the minister said that over 198,000 motorcycles were registered in Karachi and tax collected totalled over Rs409m. Similarly over 116,000 motorcycles were registered in the rest of the province and tax of over Rs176m was collected.

To his question regarding the collection of property tax from the metropolis and from the rest of the province during 2016-17, the minister responded that over Rs1.37 billion in property tax was collected from the provincial capital while over Rs104m was collected from rest of the province.

Drug peddlers

Ms Abbasi raised a question about the number of drug paddlers arrested in Dadu between 2009 and 2013.

The minister responded that 23 cases were detected and 24 persons were arrested and heroin, charas, opium, bhang, and illicit liquor were recovered from them. All of them were challaned in the courts and their cases were still pending.

The drugs, Ms Abbasi said, were easily available in many of the schools as had been highlighted in the chief minister’s meeting. The minister said that departmental staffers could not enter schools but the issue could be taken up with the school managements.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani suggested that education minister/department could also be involved in this exercise. He said that availability/usage of drugs in schools was an important issue as it affected the future generations so everyone should join in to counter the menace.

Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar added that drugs were not available in government schools, but the issue of drug usage/availability at some private schools did come up in a meeting held between the chief minister and some of the private schools’ administrations.

MQM legislator Jamal Ahmed pointed out that drug paddlers were openly selling drugs on the main road connecting Hassan Square and Gharibabad and drug addicts could be seen using/administrating the drugs on the road’s median as well as on the footpaths along the road. The minister assured the legislator that he would send a raiding party to the site instantly.

PML-Nawaz legislator Sorath Thebo said that a drug den had been operating for years in Dadu also. The minister said that he would direct the department to present a report and if found to be correct, a raid would be conducted and culprits arrested.

Responding to a question by MQM legislator as to how awareness campaigns were carried out by the department, the minister said that every year the department observed Anti-Narcotics Day on June 26, but this year it was not observed as it came during the holy month of Ramazan. He said that narcotics recovered from the raids were also burnt by the department in the presence of the media and other independent observers.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf legislator Seema Zia said that the luxury tax of Rs100,000 on imported vehicles of 3,000cc and above was peanuts as the people who purchased these had a lot of money so it should be enhanced.

The minister agreed but said that this luxury tax was imposed by the PPP government, and if the assembly wanted to revise/enhance it, the legislators could bring in the proposal in the assembly, which could discuss/debate and decide on it. Giving data about the collection of this tax, he said that over Rs58m were recovered during 2009-10; next year over Rs51m were collected and over Rs57m were collected during 2011-12.

PPP legislators Sharjeel Memon, Naeem Kharal, Bahadur Dahri; MQM legislators Faisal Sabzwari, Rauf Siddiqui, Rana Ansar; PML-F legislator Saeed Nizamani and others also participated.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2017