“In villages, there are joint families and they require residential areas in the same proportion. They also require plenty of space to keep their animals, like cows and buffalos, and to store fodder, besides the space needed to keep agricultural equipment and tractors etc,” Sharma said.

He said that since this is the only source of their income, residential self-occupied properties or properties occupied by legal heirs in village abadi be totally exempted from property tax,” he said.

Mayor Arti Mehra, however, said: “Before April 1, 2004, there was no property tax collected from village abadi but the then ruling Congress party imposed the tax on them. I assure that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will not impose any extra tax on village abadi.”

MCD Standing Committee chairman Vijender Gupta said the Corporation doesn’t want to impose any new burden through taxes on people living in villages. “The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act can be amended only by the Home Ministry and not by the MCD. The Delhi government should pass a resolution and work for the benefit of the public. Moreover, the Congress should clarify why it imposed the property tax on village abadi in 2004,” he said.