Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his ministers today announced that they would voluntarily pay their own income tax, which at present is being given from the state exchequer.
The development comes within days of Singh suggesting that elected representatives of the state, including ministers and MLAs, pay their own income tax.
The announcement followed a personal appeal by the chief minister during a meeting of the state Cabinet in Chandigarh, an official spokesperson said.
With respect to MLAs, Singh had said that the final decision on their self-payment of income tax would be taken after receiving their feedback on the proposal.
The tax is currently being paid by the government and draining the exchequer, the chief minister had said on Tuesday.
Punjab is probably the only state in the country to follow the system of the government paying taxes for all ministers and MLAs, Singh had said.
He had pointed out that the tax being paid by the state government in this regard stood at Rs 11.08 cr. While Rs 10.72 cr was being spent on payment of income tax of the MLAs, the remaining was for ministers, the chief minister had said.
Singh has also been appealing to members of the Congress in Punjab and rich farmers to give up their power subsidy in the state's larger interest.
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