The opposition Congress in MCD today strongly opposed the hike in property tax proposed by the municipal commissioner in the civic body's budget for the next fiscal and lambasted the BJP-led corporation for "failing" to generate enough revenue.

Initiating the debate on the budget unveiled by Commissioner K S Mehra on December 8, Leader of Opposition J K Sharma said most of the proposals mentioned in last financial year's budget regarding parking and other projects were repeated this time.

Sharma told a meeting of the Standing Committee that Congress "strongly opposes" the proposed five per cent hike in house tax which, he described as "anti-people and especially anti-poor".

He claimed that the across-the-board hike would lead to greater financial burden for low-income group colonies and less burden for high-income group ones.

The Congress leader also flayed Chairman of the Standing Committee Yogender Chandolia, who had outrightly rejected the proposed hike soon after the budget was unveiled at the meeting in December.

"The Standing Committee can reject the proposals of the Commissioner. But there is no provision under which the Chairman can veto a proposal. The Chairman's remarks on that day shows his inexperience...the Commissioner must have given the proposal after discussions with the ruling party. The rejection looked like an afterthought," he said.

He said rather than raising tax, revenue can be increased by properly implementing the provisions of the DMC Act. "But this needs honest efforts for which the administration does not seem to be ready."

The Congress leader said the MCD should identify tax defaulters and bring more properties under tax net. "Only 30 per cent of the properties in the city are paying tax to us...

the hike seems to an attempt to hide the MCD's failure."

He noted that the MCD has failed to reach the property tax collection target it set for 2010-11.

Sharma also said despite making about one-fourth of its expenditure on education, the image of MCD schools is "not good". Even 50 years after MCD came into existence, it could not make arrangements of power, drinking water or toilets in all the schools, he said.

"On the health front, the Commissioner spoke of upgrading several hospitals but he has actually cut down the allocation under health department by 33 per cent in comparison with last year's budget," he rued.

Sharma also made several suggestions for increasing the revenue and streamlining the work of the MCD.