Pune Finds A Novel Way To Honour Guinness Record Holder For Longest Nails, By Not Collecting Property Tax From Him

A nail in time saves nine, goes the old saying. But apparently, if your hands have five nails grown to over 30 feet, thus making you a world record holder, you can save on property tax.

Shridhar Chillal, a Guinness World Records holder for growing his nails for 64 long years, may not have to pay property tax ever again if the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) accedes to his request. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress leaders have put forward the proposal to the standing committee and the decision will be taken at a committee meeting scheduled on Tuesday.

guinness world record

Shankar Kemse, house leader of the corporation and NCP corporator, and Arvind Shinde, Congress leader in the house, have drafted the proposal. The waiver on property tax has so far been limited to freedom fighters, war widows and gallantry awardees.

Chillal (80) owns a bungalow at Bibvewadi Gaothan. He started growing the nails on his left hand in 1952, when he was 16 years old and a student in Saraswati School. Now, nearly seven decades later, his nails measure a startling 30 feet 4 inches and have not been cut even when he was working as a photographer at a government-run agricultural magazine from 1973 to 1995.

guinness world record

In November 2014, a team from the Guinness World Records visited Chillal, measured his nails and conducted an interview. His achievement was published in its 2016 edition. Speaking to Mirror, Chillal said, ¡°I am now facing a problem with maintaining my nails and have decided to donate them to a museum. I have also approached PMC for a waiver on my property tax. It is now up to the civic officials.¡±

Chillal¡¯s property tax comes to around Rs 15,000 per year and he has been paying diligently. Kemse and Shinde both seem confident that Chillal¡¯s request will be granted. ¡°Pune has a place of honour on an international platform because of Chillal. We should show our gratitude. In fact, we should bestow similar honours on famous personalities in different fields such as literature, film, etc. This is just a start,¡± said Kemse.

guinness world record

¡°Chillal approached the corporation and requested a waiver on his property tax. After this decision, maybe other personalities will approach us as well. The corporation has no problem waiving the property tax of wellknown people. It is an honour for PMC,¡± he added.

Shinde echoed these thoughts, albeit in more prosaic terms. ¡°We have given the proposal to the standing committee. Once it is passed there and at the general body meeting, we have to send it to the state government. We are ready to give a waiver, but it is ultimately the government¡¯s decision,¡± he said.

guinness world record

Suhas Mapari, head of PMC¡¯s property tax department, said, ¡°There is no provision in the law to waive property tax on the basis of world records. We have to approach the state government for permission. At present, freedom fighters, gallantry awardees and war widows are exempt from this tax.¡±

Another official from the department also said that corporators had earlier proposed to waive property taxes for the differently abled, distressed women, etc. A proposal has been sent to the state government¡¯s urban development department, but no response had been forthcoming.

It remains to be seen if Chillal and his nails come out on top of this situation. There is no provision in the law to waive property tax on the basis of world records. We have to approach the state government for permission. At present, freedom fighters, gallantry awardees and war widows are exempt from this tax