Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for implementing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in its present form, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken on Monday announced to intensify agitation by holding demonstrations in all the 42 major markets across Delhi to create awareness among the people about the adverse impact of the newly implemented tax regime through pamphlets. The protest will be launched on July 30.
Addressing media persons, Maken said there is no similarity between the GST proposed by the Congress and the one that is implemented by the BJP. “The Congress has introduced the Bill with the provision of 14 per cent as the outer limit but the BJP’s proposed GST has multiple tax slabs. The present form will benefit only the rich and industrialist friends of the Modi Government while small and medium industries are forced to close shops as they are unable to bear with its innumerable tax slabs and cesses. This step by the Centre will not only adversely affect the small and medium traders and the consumers, but also the common people,” he said.
Maken also alleged that the GST will not only put additional tax burden on the people, but will also create price rise and large scale unemployment.
Explaining the adverse impact of the newly introduced tax regime, he said that treatment in hospitals will become costlier and education will also get dearer. “The cost of construction of houses will increase by one-third. Besides, tax on sale of old vehicles will increase by 43 per cent. The prices of fertilisers will go up as it was without tax earlier,” he added.
He further said that small scale industries which had tax exemption on up to Rs 1.5 crore turnovers will now have to pay heavy tax as this limit has been reduced to Rs 20 lakh now.