Staff Correspondent: NBR Reform Unity Council President and Additional Commissioner Hassan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar on Saturday said they are ready to join the meeting scheduled for Tuesday to resolve the ongoing deadlock at the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
"We want to sit for discussions, we are ready to join Tuesday's meeting," he told reporters in front of the Revenue Building.
The NBR Reform Unity Council is currently observing its announced complete shutdown and 'March to NBR' programme, to press home their one-point demand for the immediate removal of the NBR Chairman.
The government is committed to introducing reforms in the NBR but the chairman is creating obstacles at every step, Rikabdar alleged.
In response to a question, he said the Council has yet to receive any formal invitation for the upcoming discussion. "There has been no official discussion with us so far, but 16 NBR members have unofficially communicated with us," he added.
Additional Commissioner Mirza Ashik Rana said, "We are positive about participating in the discussion but the invitation should come through the proper channel."
The Council leaders also alleged that they were denied entry into the NBR premises where law enforcement personnel were seen on high alert.
The NBR Reform Unity Council has been demonstrating with a series of protest programmes demanding structural reforms and the removal of the NBR Chairman citing allegations of administrative irregularities, officer intimidation, and obstruction of pro-reform efforts.
Since early June the agitating officials have held work abstentions, hunger strikes, and human chains, disrupting services in tax, VAT and customs offices across the country.
The protests began after the government issued an ordinance on May 12 dissolving the NBR and the Internal Resources Division, replacing them with the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.