Haryana govt to introduce VAT amendment bill in Assembly

Chandigarh, Sep 17 (UNI) The Haryana government is likely to bring a bill in the Vidhan Sabha session begining tomorrow to amend the Haryana Value Added Tax (VAT) Act so as to bring about changes in provisions pertaining to the term of office of members of the Haryana Tax Tribunal.

The amendment pertains to Clause 8 of Section 57 of the Haryana VAT Act, which says ''a member of the tribunal other than the Chairman shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which he enters office or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is later''.

The proposed amendment entails substitutions of word ''later'' with ''earlier'' and will come into force with retrospective effect from 2003.

The proposed bill will also replace an Ordinance promulgated by the state government in June this year, whereby the government had amended the qualifications for the appointment of Chairman and members of the Tribunal.

In the session the government will introduce the Haryana Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pensions of Members) Second Amendment Bill, whereby the rate of monthly pension of MLAs would be enhanced from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. The amendment is being made on the Punjab pattern.

The Private Universities Bill for facilitating the setting up of self-financed private universities will also be tabled in the House.

A bill to replace an Ordinance promulgated for amending the Haryana Panchayat Raj Act with retrospective effect from January 2005 is also expected to be brought in the Assembly. The amendment will help omit the clause according to which no person having more than two living children can become a sarpanch or panch or a member of a Panchayat Samiti/Zila Parishad.

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