Swoop on Badal Group; Direct Tax Reforms Proposed

On August 15, 1986, India was celebrating its Independence Day.

Just before the celebrations, police arrested more than 100 workers of a political party called the Akali Dal.

The party was led by Parkash Singh Badal.

The arrests took place all over the state of Punjab.

The police said the arrests were made to keep the peace during the Independence Day celebrations.

On the same day, the Finance Ministry proposed new ideas to make tax rules simpler.

One idea was to accept income-tax returns that people fill out themselves.

Another was to raise the wealth tax exemption limit from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

They also suggested giving tax benefits to people paying for new homes and removing tax on profits from selling farmland.

The goal was to make taxes simpler and to remove rules that counted income people did not really get.