The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has cracked whip on the use the language of intimidation in local body notices for tax payments. The commission has directed the Local Self-Government department to change and update the language being used in tax notices to people.
Commission judicial member K. Baijunath issued the order on June 29 disposing of a petition filed by Rajan K.K., a farmer from Nochully, near Kuzhalmannam, in Palakkad.
Mr. Rajan had complained that a tax notice issued by the panchayat had used the language of threat. He complained that the notice for payment of ₹150 as tax not only intimidated him, but also insulted him among the public.
Examining the complaint, Mr. Baijunath observed that the language being used in local body tax notices was offensive to the people and asked the Local Self-Government department Principal Director to update language in such a way as to be respectful to the people.
A campaign is currently on under the banner of the Sauhruda Bhasha Koottayma, a collective of social activists seeking mutual respect in language, against the outmoded officialese. The government too has begun to respond positively to the demand to bring about respect for the people in official language.
“It’s ridiculous and unfair to threaten a common man with land recovery and prosecution in a letter asking him to pay a tax of ₹150 for his house. Our officials are still following the age-old notice format that uses the language of the British Raj. This should change. That’s what we are campaigning for,” said Boban Mattumantha, one of the leaders of the campaign.
Mr. Mattumantha said that the notice of prosecution and land recovery given to a citizen who owes the government ₹150 would be hideous. “These are the words of a government to its people in a democratic country. It’s not a notice to the people who cheat the government of crores of rupees. The government has to do a serious rethink on this,” he said.
Mr. Mattumantha said that the government and its officials should always be aware that they owe it to the people, and not vice versa. “The government and its officials should not forget that the people are powerful in a democracy,” he said.
