Himalayan Times (1954)

'-djititnla J, nut f May 23, 19.i4

FOR SALE : 1952 2-Litre LAND ROVER
witb many valuable additions Only
13,000 miles. One owner. Maintained
regardless of cost. Rs. 12.S0D or
offer. Apply : Bullock, Care The Rev.
W. M scott, (Scottish Church Mission,
Kalimpong.

IN Till: PARLIAMENT

Shrimati Maya Devi Chettry: Will
the Minister for Railways be pleased to
state :

(a) '-whether it is a fact that the
Railway Administration 1 ave net yet
paid the taxes livied on their properties
by some of the municipalities in West
Bengal;

(bi if so. what are the reasons
therefor; and

(c)* what steps Government propose
to take for the settlement of the amounts
due to those municipalities ?

■ihri 0.. V. Alagesan: (a) & b) i he
Railway administrations have been paying
whatever taxes they were liable to pay
before 20-1 19-49 at the rates in force
before that date. Taxes demanded by
municipalities in respect of new proper-
ties or at higher rates in respect, of old
ones are not being piid in absence of
permissive legislation as required by the
Constitution. But even in these cases
the Railway administrations have instruc-
tions to pay for specific services rende-
red under a contractual arrangement.

(c) Government have since devised
a formula on the basis of which taxes
to various mun cipali'ies should be paid
and the issue of necessary orders is new
under the consideration of the Miristry
of Finance in consultation with other
Ministries concerned.

Shrimati Maya Devi Chettry: Sir,
may I know the names of the munici-
palities in West Bengal »o which thV
Railway Administration have not yet
paid their taxes ?

Shri O. V. Alagesan: ' ir, there may
be many municipalities. I do not have
the list of such municipalities just now.

(Continued on page 0)

Kalimpong, May 23, .1954

INDIA, CHINA AND TIBET

Acharya Kripalani the.PSP leader in the
House of ttio People, Struck the correct note
when lie urged that the foreign policy of a
nation shoubjMje. ;i truly national policy above
ami beyoud the call of party interests. It id a
historical axiom that Government* niav rise or
fall but thy foreign policy of-a State hat'dly, if
ev^r, changes with the change of Government.

Kripalam|i urged that all political parties
should sit together and present a united front.
Such a process would secure Government's sensi-
tiveness to public opinion without necessarily
exposing international secrets to speculative analy-
sis at the market place

In the course of the same debate, Acharyaji
made out another sensible point. Refeirng to
the Indo-China agreement on Tibet, he boloMy
characterised China's incursion .on Tibet to ,be
as abominable as any other colonialism indulged
in by the western nations. Many in this country
share his opinion that China, after she had gone
communist, had committed an act of aggression
so far aa Tibet was. concerned. The ^External
Affairs Sreretariat would be hard put fta it to
answer this grav£ point. The open and? unequi-
vocal recognition of China's suzerainty oVej' Tibet
in flagrant violation of the fads of history-which
were referred to. in these columns the cither day
wonld considerably weaken India's stand. as- the
def -nder of the rights of Asian Nations to hold
their own. Any exception to the rule would
only be picking holes in the sailing boat.