Click to play videoPatna: Eunuchs dancing on the streets of Patna is nothing new, but this time they are not just dancing. They have donned a new avataar.
They are the new tax collectors for the Patna Municipal Corporation - collecting overdue holding tax from long defaulters. And for their new job, the corporation is paying them four per cent commission on the money collected.
No wonder the eunuchs are basking in their new role.
Says a eunuch, Punam Devi, "Shopkeepers and traders shouldn't evade taxes. How will the government function without revenue?"
These new tax collectors are accompanied by officials of the Municipal Corporation, and the police are also providing them security.
Municipal officials feel eunuchs can be a source of embarrasment to people, forcing them to cough up overdue tax.
Says officer Patna Municipal Corporation, Ravikant Tiwari, "We are trying to make people aware that they must pay their taxes and this is being done with support from the hijra community."
But not everyone is supporting the corporation's new method of tax collection.
Says judicial service officer, Sachida Nand Kishore, "This is no way to collect tax. We will file a writ petition in court against the municipal corporation so that they are forced to stop this."
Compared to the annual target of Rs 60 crore, the corporation so far has collected only Rs 7 crore.
Whether this innovative method of collection will work or not is yet to be seen, but for now these eunuchs have surely found an assured employment.
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