Political rallies in Assam would entail a permission fee of ₹2,000 while ₹500 would be charged for clearance to organise street plays and awareness programmes or rallies.
Similarly, permission to organise the spring-time Bihu and other cultural programmes, meetings, and conferences would incur a fee of ₹300.
The Assam government has revised the user charges and service fees for “citizen-centric service delivery” through the Assam Police Sewa Setu, a portal offering 26 services.
A notification issued by Biswajit Pegu, the Home (A) Department Secretary on November 17 said a dozen services such as filing e-complaint, e-FIR (First Information Report), passport, and permission for holding religious events have been exempted from any fee.
The remaining services would be provided for fees ranging from ₹300 to ₹50,000, the notification said. According to the list, permission to hold any sporting event, political rally, event, or meeting would carry a fee of ₹2,000.
The fee for verifying tenants, paying guests, people employed by private firms, and domestic help has been fixed at ₹300 while permission for commercial construction would entail a fee of ₹50,000 in Guwahati and ₹25,000 in other parts of the State.
Political parties and NGOs have slammed the “taxation” by a “debt-ridden” government on the people already burdened by price rise and taxation.
“After taking more than ₹12,000 crore as loan from the Centre and spending on populist schemes, the Assam government is trying to survive by taxing the common people,” Bhadreswar Barman of the Nagarik Suraksha Mancha said.
Raijor Dal leader Girishankar Goswami said the State government has imposed “taxes” on the people to pay-off the debts and raise funds for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “The government, which claims to promote sports and culture, must withdraw the permission fee for celebrating our traditional Bihu and other cultural programmes,” he said.
“The way things are going, the BJP will soon tax the air we breathe or for wearing branded clothes. The BJP must be stopped from returning to power in 2024 if the people want to get some respite,” State Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended the move. “If we charge ₹300 for processing permission, it is important to note that we are allocating nearly ₹50 crore this year for organising our traditional cultural festivals. For instance, if a Bihu committee receives ₹1.5 lakh from the government, it is unlikely that anyone would criticise us for collecting ₹300 for the State exchequer,” he said.
