MULTAN

Dozens of traders and shopkeepers brought out a big rally against withholding tax on bank transactions and staged a protest in front of Multan Press Club on Saturday. Holding placards and banners inscribed with their demands regarding immediate abolition of tax, the protesters carried out non-stop sloganeering against the government. The protesters were led by Khawaja Suleman Siddiqui, Muhammad Akhtar Butt, Sheikh Javed Akhtar Matloob Husasain Bukhari, Shahid Mehmood Ansari, Arif Fasihullah, Shehzad Akram, M Idrees Butt and Javed Akhtar Khan. They blocked Abdali Road as a result of which a severe traffic jam took place at Chowk Nawan Shehr and adjoining areas. The traders of more than 22 bazaars of Multan city took part in the protest rally.
Speaking on this occasion, Khawaja Suleman Siddiqui and others said traders across the country rejected this forced tax and all the businessmen would support traders in their fight against this injustice.It was a cruel tax that would hurt the national economy and national exchequer while promoting unlawful transaction of money like Hundi and others ways, they said.
All traders from Karachi to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they said, were united on this point and if the government did not review its decision to do away with the tax, traders would be forced to go on strike. They said banks had no data of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and they were imposing 0.6 per cent withholding tax even on those who filed income tax.
The FBR had also failed to keep complete data. Instead of imposing this unnatural tax”, tax net be widened, they said, adding that except for traders, widows, pensioners and other poor people also made transactions and they had to pay 0.6 per cent tax as well. Traders explained that this withholding tax of 0.6 per cent, which was being imposed on those who did not file income tax, would have to be paid on withdrawal of over Rs50,000 in cash and even on online bank transactions of the same amount. Rejecting the tax, they said the unfair withholding tax should be abolished immediately, otherwise they would be forced to close their shops and markets for an indefinite period.
ANTI-POLIO DRIVE: Over seven lac children below the age of five year will be administered polio prevention drops during upcoming three-day round of vaccination drive starting from February 15. Health sources said that 1,645 teams including over 1450 mobile ones had been constituted to vaccinate the children.
The district administration said that full security would be given to the polio vaccination teams. “We’ll ensure security of polio teams while strict action will be taken against the parents refusing vaccination of their kids,” declared Zahid Saleem Gondal, DCO Multan.
Talking to the journalists on Saturday, he lamented that Pakistan was one of the only three countries of the world which failed to eradicate polio. He said that 306 polio cases were reported in 2014 but an effective drive cut the cases down to just 54 during 2015. He said that polio vaccination teams would be deployed at bus stops, railway stations, wagon stops and all hospitals to vaccinate the children on the go.