The general protests by officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) had eventually turned into an anti-government movement aimed at disrupting the country’s economy, claimed Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan on Sunday.
Fouzul, who leads the ministries of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; Road Transport and Bridges; and Railways, made the remarks at a press conference at the Secretariat.
He also heads the Advisory Council Committee formed to speed up business, industry, ports and revenue collection.
Committee members Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan were also present at the press conference.
Regarding the NBR officials’ protest demanding repeal of the Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance, Fouzul said, “It was initially a harmless movement, but later turned into an anti-government one. The aim shifted towards causing economic damage and disrupting revenue collection.”
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Quoting a newspaper report, he cited evidence from a WhatsApp group suggesting a political motive behind the protest.
“Despite provocation, the government showed immense patience,” he said, adding that business leaders questioned why the protest was allowed to continue for so long. “We tried to resolve the issue without repression, but it didn’t work," the Adviser said.
The Advisory Committee has held five meetings so far with stakeholders, including VAT and income tax associations, NBR officials, the Reform Commission and business leaders.
“We’ll monitor field-level activities of income tax, customs and VAT operations,” he said.
Fouzul also said that businesses suffered badly during the two-month-long protest and frequently faced harassment by tax officials. However, they fully support the government’s reform agenda.
He also mentioned that the Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating some NBR officials and disciplinary actions have already been taken.
The advisory committee will provide recommendations for formulating policies on how to appoint secretaries in two departments (Revenue Policy and Revenue Implementation) to resolve the issues arising with NBR.
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The five-member Advisory Council was formed on June 30 through a Cabinet Division notification.
Its other members are Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain (adviser to the Shipping and Labour Ministries) and Sk. Bashiruddin (adviser to the Commerce, Textiles and Civil Aviation Ministries).