Responding to the 10-day ultimatum served by Public Action Committee (PAC) of Naga Council Dimapur (NCD) to Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) demanding revocation of leasing out toll tax, lessees of DMC toll tax clarified that they adhere to the item rates prescribed by the government/DMC.
Making a statement on behalf of all the lessees under DMC, Tokheli Kikon and Huska Sema stated that they had resolved during a meeting on Saturday to clarify to PAC’s statement, which they termed as baseless and false allegation.
Tokheli and Huska maintained that they (lessees) did not encourage illegal collection of money at check gates or inside the city, nor did the rates of commodities escalate because they were functioning in strict adherence to the rate of items and terms and conditions of the contract.
They said lessees were not collecting even a single paisa more than the rates prescribed by the municipal authority and judiciously submitting the revenue to the concerned department, they added.
They said allegations made by PAC amounted to attempt to tarnish the good image of the lessees and create misunderstanding among parties concerned. They also alleged that PAC had some personal and selfish interest on the matter.
They urged PAC to come forward with proof and evidence, if the lessees were encouraging illegal collection of money or resorting to unlawful activities, and report the same to the competent authority. They said in such a case, the law should take its own course but PAC should not to try to falsely implicate the entire lessees.
Regarding leasing out tolls by DMC, the lessees pointed out that it was not a new thing, pointing out that the council had been leasing out the same since the time of Dimapur Town Committee as per guidelines.