Eighty percent of the collected tax money ends up in the pockets of revenue officers every year, said Sindh Board of Revenue (BoR) senior member Shazar Shamoon during a meeting of the provincial assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held on Tuesday to review the 2006-9 audit reports of the revenue department. PAC Chairman Jam Tamachi Unnar and other committee members expressed their disappointment over “zero tax collection”, and ordered to refer the issue to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah for taking action. Shamoon said revenue officers, including mukhtiarkars and tapedars, embezzle the collected tax money every year. He said these officers hould be sent to the gallows.
Unnar asked the revenue department to improve tax collection because it is important for the economy of the province. Later, Unnar told the media that corruption is a global problem. He said the revenue department’s negligence and incompetence could be gauged from the fact that revenue officers appeared before the PAC after being issued 11 reminders in the past six months and now they seek two more months for presenting the required record.
CM CHAIRS REVENUE DEPT MEETING: Shah chaired a meeting of the revenue department at the Chief Minister’s House to review the overall performance of the department.
Shah directed the officers to monitor the activities of encroachers and land grabbers. He said in case of a violation, prompt action should be taken against the land grabbers.
He ordered employing the anti-encroachment staff for getting rid of illegal occupation of lands. He said all pending cases should be decided according government laws.
He ordered the revenue department to evolve a strategy to protect the government’s lands and settle issues pertaining to cooperative societies.
