Aurangabad: With the civic officials busy with various projects in the last couple of months, the property tax collection drive has taken a back seat and the cash-strapped Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) could collect only around Rs 5 crore in last 45 days.Most of the tax collectors in the civic body are engaged in Swachh Bharat Mission while others are doing election duties. Apart from this, many clerks and officers are busy in assessment of properties.Vasant Nikam, tax collection in-charge in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), said despite manpower shortage the collection figure has reached a satisfactory level. "In the current financial year, the property tax collection has crossed about Rs 67 crore on Friday — around Rs 6 crore more than last year's collection till February 10, 2016. However, we cannot deny that our staff's engagement in other projects is affecting the tax collection to a certain level," he said.However, Nikam added that after Zilla Parishad election more staff will be available for collection of taxes. "Moreover many citizens have the tendency to pay the tax in March and thus we hope to collect more tax," he said.Property tax collection has posted a sharp hike after the Central government's demonetisation move. After the state government allowed tax payers to use the old currency notes to clear their tax liabilities, the AMC's collection picked up and it managed to collect a sum of Rs 8.50 crore in four days.A senior AMC official, requesting anonymity, said the tax collectors have been given targets to make the city free from open defecation. "They are focusing on slums and motivating citizens to construct toilets," he said.

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