The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan terming it as a process towards economic integration of the country. MP became the seventh State in the country to ratify the historic tax amendment Bill.
A special one-day sitting of the State legislative Assembly was convened for the ratification of the Bill, which was unanimously ratified by the members with voice vote after a discussion. State's law Minister Rampal Singh moved the Bill in the House.
Finance Minister Jayant Mallaiya, who initiated the debate, said Madhya Pradesh will benefit from the GST as it is basically a consumer State. He further said that the GST will simplify the tax structure across the country and bring transparency in the tax system.
Responding to certain apprehensions expressed by some members, Malaiya assured them that these would be raised before the committee formed for discussions on GST.
Demanding that the standard rate of tax should be capped at 18 per cent, Congress' Rajendra Singh said that the proposed GST Council should be given constitutional status. Meanwhile, several members demanded that the petroleum products should be brought in the GST ambit. “The House unanimously ratifies the 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill,” Assembly Speaker Sitasharan Sharma said before adjourning the House sine die.
MP became the seventh State in the country to ratify the historic tax amendment Bill. Before Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had already passed the Bill in their respective Assemblies.
The special session on Wednesday convened for the consideration of the Bill had no other businesses scheduled. The session was in continuation of the monsoon session of the Assembly, as it was not prorogued. Passed by Parliament earlier, the historic tax reform Bill will facilitate a nationwide indirect tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services. It seeks to make India a common market in terms of uniform tax treatment of trade and commerce across the States.
Earlier, when the Bill was tabled for ratification, Congress' acting leader of Opposition raised the demand for discussion on alleged Simhastha scam and the grim flood situation in the State.
However, the Speaker turned down their demand on the ground that the purpose of the day-long session was only to ratify the Constitution Amendment Bill on GST.
Congress members, including Bala Bachchan, Ram Niwas Rawat, Mukesh Nayak, Jai Vardhan Singh and Jeetu Patwari, among others, gave various suggestions for incorporating in the Bill, especially the issue of high petroleum products prices in the State because of high tax rate.