Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday announced abolition of “garbage tax,” which was introduced on the same day four years ago by the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
On October 2, 2021, Jagan Mohan Reddy introduced this garbage tax as part of Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP)-Jagananna Swachha Sankalpam programme. The government proposed a fee for collecting garbage from households.
Residents were made to cough up Rs 120 per month as garbage cess while it was made Rs 30 in notified slums. For business and commercial establishments, it even varied from Rs 200 to as high as Rs 15,000 per month.
A garbage tax of Rs 120 per month accounts to Rs 1,440 per year which is more than the double of the property tax for many households.
It evoked strong protests from the people of all sections and became a major poll issue for opposition parties ahead of the general elections in the state in May this year.
During the electioneering, Naidu promised to abolish this garbage tax and in fact, soon after the NDA came to power in June, people have stopped paying and the municipalities have stopped collecting it.
Now, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Naidu announced at Machilipatnam that his government would formally abolish the garbage tax as promised before the elections.
“It will be ratified in the cabinet and appropriate orders would be issued shortly,” he said.
He asked the authorities to stop collecting the garbage tax and waive all the arrears. He even announced restoration of solid waste management plants which were closed down during the previous regime.