CHENNAI: The recently-inaugurated Anna Centenary Library (ACL) built at Kotturpuram in the city with world class facilities has won appreciation from various quarters, but the state public library department is grappling with severe financial crunch even to procure books due to huge arrears in the remittance of library cess by the local bodies.
A whopping sum of Rs 116 crore, including Rs 60.42 crore from the ten municipal corporations across the state, was due to the Local Library Authorities (LLA) as of March 31, 2010. The Chennai Corporation is a major defaulter, owing Rs 22.90 crore as library cess, officials of the public library department said.
The library cess is being levied under section 12(1) (a) of the Tamil Nadu Public Libraries Act 1948 in the form of surcharge on the property tax or house tax levied under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act 1920. As per a G.O. issued by the Education Department in 1992, the library cess was enhanced from five paise to ten paise per Re 1, working out to 10% of the total property tax collected.
The entire amount of the library cess has to be transferred to the LLA by the local bodies, from which expenditures like purchase of books and periodicals and development of infrastructure at the public libraries are met with.
The Rs 200-crore ACL has been constructed utilising the LLA funds with the government contributing Rs 20 crore as grant. Nearly 5 lakh books has been procured at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore. However, due to paucity of funds, a sum of Rs 50 crore had to be borrowed from the finance department to make payments to publishers, the officials added.
With the public library department having drawn an ambitious plan to stack about 12 lakh books in ACL over a period of five years, which will make it the second largest library in the country next to the National Library in Kolkata, the officials are concerned over the lukewarm response of local bodies towards remittance of library cess to the LLA.
When contacted, Chennai Corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni told TOI that the corporation had been allocating some amount for the library every year after getting the council's approval. But, there was no government order that 10% of the property tax collected should be remitted to the LLA, he argued.
However, a G.O issued by the school education department on April 23, 2008, had clearly instructed that the Chennai Corporation should collect library cess at the rate of 10 paise per rupee while levying property tax with effect from April 1, 2008, the officials pointed out.
Read more: Local bodies fail to remit library cess - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Local-bodies-fail-to-remit-library-cess/articleshow/6639646.cms#ixzz10p5e1D3N
A whopping sum of Rs 116 crore, including Rs 60.42 crore from the ten municipal corporations across the state, was due to the Local Library Authorities (LLA) as of March 31, 2010. The Chennai Corporation is a major defaulter, owing Rs 22.90 crore as library cess, officials of the public library department said.
The library cess is being levied under section 12(1) (a) of the Tamil Nadu Public Libraries Act 1948 in the form of surcharge on the property tax or house tax levied under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act 1920. As per a G.O. issued by the Education Department in 1992, the library cess was enhanced from five paise to ten paise per Re 1, working out to 10% of the total property tax collected.
The entire amount of the library cess has to be transferred to the LLA by the local bodies, from which expenditures like purchase of books and periodicals and development of infrastructure at the public libraries are met with.
The Rs 200-crore ACL has been constructed utilising the LLA funds with the government contributing Rs 20 crore as grant. Nearly 5 lakh books has been procured at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore. However, due to paucity of funds, a sum of Rs 50 crore had to be borrowed from the finance department to make payments to publishers, the officials added.
With the public library department having drawn an ambitious plan to stack about 12 lakh books in ACL over a period of five years, which will make it the second largest library in the country next to the National Library in Kolkata, the officials are concerned over the lukewarm response of local bodies towards remittance of library cess to the LLA.
When contacted, Chennai Corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni told TOI that the corporation had been allocating some amount for the library every year after getting the council's approval. But, there was no government order that 10% of the property tax collected should be remitted to the LLA, he argued.
However, a G.O issued by the school education department on April 23, 2008, had clearly instructed that the Chennai Corporation should collect library cess at the rate of 10 paise per rupee while levying property tax with effect from April 1, 2008, the officials pointed out.
Read more: Local bodies fail to remit library cess - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Local-bodies-fail-to-remit-library-cess/articleshow/6639646.cms#ixzz10p5e1D3N
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