Rags to riches in heart, soul and intention: Disabled woman sets example, pays civic dues in coins

Losing your honour is like losing yourself, they say, and Jyotsna Gandhi from Vadodara did not hold back from being an honest citizen of the country.

While tax evaders look for ways to skip paying their civic dues, Jyotsna Gandhi turned heads at the VMC office when she went there to clear her municipal taxes amounting to thousands of rupees in small denominations, including coins.

Gandhi, who feeds herself and her differently-abled son by begging outside temples, carried a small bag that contained currency notes of Rs. 10, Rs. 20, and Rs. 50 to clear her property tax of around Rs. 15000 since 2003. A bill for the same was served to her only recently by the civic body.

The woman was not even aware about her 25 per cent rebate in property tax and conservancy charges as a disabled, said Jignesh Gohil, VMC’s assistant municipal commissioner (revenue). More so, it was commendable that the woman regularly paid her electricity dues.