GST council meet: Congress to seek exemption on COVID-19 care material

Congress will demand tax exemption on life-saving drugs and equipment during the GST Council meet which is scheduled to be held on Friday. The Party will also raise the issue of the vacant post of vice-chairman and cess shortfall.

New Delhi: A day ahead of the GST Council meet, which is scheduled to be held on Friday, the Congress party has made it clear that it is going to demand tax exemption on life-saving drugs and equipment and will also raise the issue of the vacant post of vice-chairman as well as of cess shortfall.

While addressing a press conference, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal asserted that the GST Council meet has been called after 7.5 months at a time when the entire country has been facing an unprecedented crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic which has severely affected the state's economy.

Read:|Convene GST Council meet to exempt tax on Covid-19 care material: Punjab govt

He also mentioned that the non-BJP ruling states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss what priorities need to be pursued and how to improve the structural part of the GST.

Questioning the role of the GST implementation committee, Badal alleged that 50 pages of the GST Council meeting agenda are for mere information on actions already taken by the bureaucracy.

He said, "We cannot leave the decision-making process to the implementation committee. We would be asking the council tomorrow that this 50 pages agenda must be either reversed or formal approval must be taken from all the states and some of the decisions which have been taken by this GST council, have to be ratified by the states. I am afraid, I will not be able to take up the new rules to my legislature unless they are ratified by the council."

Badal also demanded that the GST council must have a Vice-Chairman from an opposition state. He even flagged the issue of no voting in the meeting as it is being held virtually.

Read:|GST Council meet ends without consensus on compensating states

He mentioned that in September 2020 states agreed "under duress" to a two-part formula of borrowing more to compensate for the revenue loss. Asserting over the need to bring structural changes in the GST regime, Badal said, "Opposition states will be asking for an outright grant and no borrowing tomorrow and also an extension of the period of compensation."

When asked if the Opposition is going with a joint strategy for GST Council meet, he stated, "All states feel that since they have shared their sovereignty, they were entitled to a 14 per cent increase. Most states are actually receiving because of a faulty design of the GST. So, I think, regardless of whether which party, you belong to, we all have a stake in the system."

Badal added that Punjab alone has pending arrears of Rs 5,000 crore.

Read:|Congress-led states feel "disappointed" from GST council meet, asks Govt not to "thrust" decisions