Tax will be collected from tourists in Gilgit-Baltistan,Is the tourism department aware of this?
Written by Syeda Safina Malik
It is said that when you are not serious about your work and create a gap in it, someone else creates a place there ,and you don’t even know about it.In this race for power, personalities and institutions are look for that empty space where they can take possession. And those who create this space are either unaware of this space due to their lack of seriousness or they are outraged when this thing is taken away.
And try to vent their anger elsewhere.
In Gilgit-Baltistan ,today the war of powers has started in the political field and bureaucracy. While some political figures and institutions seem to be very serious about obtaining powers and their responsibilities, but the heads of some departments are sleeping in a nightmare. And when they are questioned about their department, they either get angry or they take their anger out somewhere else.
In the past few days,a statement came out regarding the Minister of Excise and Taxation of Gilgit-Baltistan Rehmat Khaliq in which he said that tax will be collected from the tourists of Gilgit-Baltistan. Provincial Minister of Excise and Taxation Rehmat Khaliq told to the reporters that the target of our organization is that the revenue will be collected up to 2 billion. In tourism, the local will not be taxed, but the non-local will be taxed under the category of hotels where they will stay, because the tourists who come from other cities will be taxed. Because they use the roads, water and electricity of Gilgit-Baltistan, but the government is not getting anything from them.
This news was completely new to all other journalists including me.
This news was completely new to all other journalists including me. The reason for this was that everyone has seen the seriousness of Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department regarding tourism in various events.
The beautiful campaign prepared by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Tourism has given the impression that this event belongs exclusively to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In this event, not a single footage, briefing or report from the tourism department of Gilgit-Baltistan was received by the national media. And the entire content of the international media appeared to be run by the Tourism Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This was the reason why people from the national media kept asking me whether Shandoor Festival is an event of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Gilgit Baltistan? In this regard, Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan Mohiuddin Wani seems to be making repeated efforts. The Chief Secretary seems to be playing a role in the promotion of tourism as well as the education sector, which has been plagued by problems for many years. Perhaps this is the reason why various off-the-record campaigns are launched against them which never succeed.
Excise and Taxation’s stance on this issue of taxing tourists is very clear. In this regard, all the journalists including me were expecting that the tourism department would have been taken on board with such a move. In this regard, when I spoke to the main official of the tourism department, he showed his ignorance about this matter very unpleasantly, after which when I tried to talk to him about this important issue regarding administrative affairs, but the response from the side was so vague that the situation could not be clarified. As the matter was of great importance, further information could not be obtained due to the attitude of the concerned key official.
The tourism department needs to take immediate steps to clarify this news of taking tax from tourists and to answer the questions raised in the minds of tourists. As the tourism sector is facing difficulties due to inflation and various incidents. In such a situation, this news has made the tourists more worried. This decision may be a very good step in the administrative affairs of Gilgit-Baltistan, but at the same time guidance to the tourists in this regard is very important.
When any such news about the department comes out, the officials of that department need to play a proactive role immediately. In such a case, the department immediately monitors the decisions taken in this sector and an immediate campaign is launched in this regard to guide the public and tourists.
Such a situation has an impact on tourism. Tourists are worried about such news. Tourists go to beautiful places so that they can get peace of mind. And can get rid of the problems of the whole year. In such a case, the tourists get worried when this kind of news comes out.And according to the Gilgit Baltistan Tourisam Department it is not a problem, this decision had to be made and taxes are collected from tourists all over the world including Pakistan.This tax was not collected in Gilgit-Baltistan, which has now been decided to be collected by Excise and Taxation.
After this decision, the tourism department will have to be active. Tourists will have to be made aware of this issue through various campaigns and tourists need to be made aware of the need of it. If this does not happen,the tourists will refuse to pay the tax or the name and reputation of the area will be damaged in the debate. In order to avoid such a situation, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Excise and Taxation will have to meet immediately on this issue and find a solution of it. It is not enough to say that it is a matter of this department and we cannot do anything about their decisions. This is not the case at all. In every department, a team is created by paying salaries from public tax money so that the team can play a dynamic role in such a situation and solve the problems faced in the future in advance. It is hoped that the Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan will solve this issue. Will also look seriously and play their role for its solution.
