Eunuchs
have come to rescue of the loss-making Patna Municipal
Corporation. Fed up of the mounting outstanding tax dues
from tax defaulters, the corporation has hired eunuchs
to act as collection agents.
According
to an NDTV report, the eunuchs enter houses and shops
in the city with drums and loud music, embarrassing the
defaulters in to clearing their dues.
The
channel quotes Saraya Rani, tax collector, as saying,
"There are many people who haven't paid taxes for
the past ten years. We want them to pay up so that the
municipal corporation does not run into losses and employees
get their wages in time. I am sure we will be successful,
otherwise we will pester them."
On the first day the eunuchs went out last Wednesday,
the corporation had a collection of Rs4 lakh. In return,
the eunuchs get four per cent of the money collected.
"This
method is new. When the eunuchs reach the doorstep, the
defaulters get embarrassed and have no option but to pay
their tax dues," Bharat Sharma, revenue officer,
Patna Municipal Corporation, told NDTV.
However,
those embarrassed in to paying are not amused. "I
don't understand why the corporation is using eunuchs
for tax collection. They
are short of manpower and it is an effort to embarrass
and scare people, not an effort to collect tax,"
a shopkeeper told the channel.
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