Industrialists in Malda cry foul over ‘unjustified’ panchayat tax hike

Even as chief minister Mamata Banerjee has warned urban and rural civic bodies against burdening residents and businesses with excessive taxes, industrialists in Malda’s Gazole block say they are facing exactly that issue.

In a letter to Malda district magistrate Nitin Singhania, Ujjal Saha, president of the Malda Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged immediate intervention against what he described as “unjustified” tax hikes imposed by local panchayats—particularly targeting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

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Citing a specific case, the Chamber highlighted that an MSME established under the SAIP 2020 scheme of the state government, was slapped with a panchayat tax of Rs 35,750 by Deotala gram panchayat—up from Rs 14,000 last year. This 2.5-fold hike came despite the unit operating under state industrial promotion policies with official approvals and administrative oversight.

“This arbitrary demand completely contradicts the chief minister’s directive at the North Bengal Business Summit in Siliguri, where she asked the chief secretary to address MSME grievances on unjustified taxation,” Saha said in the letter.

He urged the DM to ensure such practices do not discourage industrial growth in the region. The Chamber has demanded immediate withdrawal of the inflated tax and called for a broader review of local civic tax policies, especially those impacting state-supported industries.

The letter comes amid rising concern among small and medium entrepreneurs over the growing disconnect between state-level policy and local governance, which they say is harming industrial confidence and job creation in Malda.