LAHORE: All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajran Senior Vice Chairman Ajmal Baloch has agreed to the proposal of imposing 10 per cent additional income tax on the business community for the promotion of quality education in the country.
The agreement came at a meeting between Baloch and Jahangir Akhtar, a veteran social and political activist who thinks lack of educational opportunities as the mother of all evils in the society.
On the occasion, Baloch said that the proposal of voluntary submission of additional tax by the business community is an effective strategy to transform children into responsible and productive citizens. He said that 37 per cent of the total population is less than 14 years of age while half of these children have never attended school. “Uneducated youth are a major and permanent threat to our national security and prosperity which is yet to be realised,” he added.
Baloch who is also Central Organising Secretary of the Traders Action Committee said that he has agreed to the proposal but he will have to seek the consent of the members to make it a reality. He said that social development is only possible through human development and education is the prerequisite for it which if not realised will lead the country into a civil war.
The business community wants to pay taxes but they know that their money would be wasted on the luxuries of the few, he lamented.
Speaking at the occasion, Jahangir Akhtar said that the business community should come forward as the government does not have resources to make the country a prosperous nation by providing quality education to all.
