Don’t want anti-economic reforms tag
SP’s Naresh Agrawal said though unwilling, his party was supporting the Bill as it did not want to be seen as anti-economic reforms. He urged Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to make it clear whether foodgrains and essential commodities will be brought under the ambit of GST and claimed it will lead to price rise hitting the common man.
Raising doubts over the redressal mechanism, the SP leader said the system was yet to be specified thereby giving rise to apprehension in the States adding they will have to come to the Centre with a “begging bowl” to seek funds and redressal.
With the State bound for polls next year, Agrawal said there was no clarity over the exemption of GST for traders and small businessman with a turn over of less than Rs 10 lakh. This issue figured in the Standing Committee and he asked the Finance Minister to fix the cap at Rs 5 lakh for Northeastern States and Rs 10 lakh for others. He said this announcement will make it easier for his Government to inform the people about GST in the run up to the State elections.
BJP, Congress playing ping-pong
TMC MP Derek O’Brien, while supporting the Bill, took pot shots at both the Congress and the BJP and charged them with playing “ping pong “over it for ten years. Asserting that his party had always supported GST, O’Brien said the Bill could be named “Girgit Samjhauta Tax” given the stands taken by BJP and Congress over the years.
Referring to the BJP’s posture when it was in Opposition, he said Jaitley then opposed it while the Congress now adopted a stance which amounted to “Glow Slow Tactics.” The TMC leader said it should be ensured that GST is implemented from April 1, 2017. Tasking a dig at the NDA combine, he said ruling regimes in UK and some other countries lost elections after introducing GST.
May hit country’s federal structure
Expressing apprehensions that the GST regime will hit the country’s federal structure, Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) sought an assurance from the Government to ensure flexibility so that the States can raise resources and they are not forced to come to the Centre with “begging bowls to ask for money.”
Giving examples, he said the Kerala Government recently imposed a tax on fast foods to curb obesity and it was commended by several countries. However, once GST is implemented, the State Government will not be able to do so, he claimed. Citing another instance, Yechury said the West Bengal Government imposed a surcharge on tobacco but will have to forego the right after GST regime.
Terming GST as a regressive tax, he said it should be kept low as it will burden the poor more as already 62 per cent comes from indirect taxes. Indirect taxes were hiked by Rs 20,000 crore in the budget, Yechury said adding the Government was “enriching the rich” at the cost of the poor.
He said “this is a very serious piece of legislation. We are making a radical departure in the way and objective of revenue collection.”
Advocating that the tax collected the State for the State GST should go to the consolidated fund of the State, Yechury asked the Government to clarify on this crucial issue. “What is the mechanism and the timeframe within which the revenue will be shared with the States and Centre,” Yechury sought to know.
Corruption will come down
Supporting the Bill, Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) said his party was always in favour of it and was in fact instrumental in evolving a consensus. He said with the subsuming of various taxes into the GST, corruption will come down as multiplicity of taxes led to this scourge.
Expressing concern over the state of local municipal bodies and village panchayats, Yadav asked the Finance Minister to explain the effect of GST on these bodies crucial for improving the lot of the masses. He also asked the government to dispel the apprehensions of the States about their autonomy after the implementation of the GST and federal structure.
legislation seeks to boost economy
Supporting the Bill, AU Singh Deo of the party said the legislation seeks to boost the economy and sought weightage for the States. His party colleague Dilip Tirkey termed it as a welcome, progressive Bill which is going to benefit the manufacturers, retailers and consumers. However, he said, the losses incurred due to delay in roll out will be known only after implementation of GST. He said Odisha’s demand for outstanding dues is not being met and urged Finance Minister to release funds worth Rs 2,669 crore.
Transition towards GST challenging
Praful Patel of the NCP was of the view that “transition” towards GST model will be challenging both at the States and the Central levels.
“The principle of equity must be kept in mind while deciding on revenue neutral rate,” he said while citing the example of the Bombay Municipal Corporation where octroi collection itself is more than the budget of several small states in the country.
Patel urged the Government to introduce the Bill as a Finance Bill and not a Money Bill saying it had ramifications beyond just amending the Constitution.
Patel said though the GST bill appeared to be a “bilateral issue” between the BJP and the Congress, “we are happy it has reached this stage in Parliament and we support it.” Patel maintained the states which are earning lesser revenues are going to be compensated and added that while Services will be impacted with GST, manufacturing will benefit.
Power of State given to GST Council
Satish Chandra Misra of the BSP said though his party welcomed the GST, the federal structure has to be protected. Different States have different issues but GST Council has been given wide-ranging powers and the power of the State is taken away and given to the Council.
He demanded that the vice chairman of the GST Council should be inducted from a party which is not a part of the ruling party at the Centre. “My suggestion is that at least the vice chairman of the GST Council should belong to a party which is not in the Centre,” he said.
Bill will usher country into growth era
The GST will usher the country into growth era and said people around the globe were asking why it was taking so long to introduce the measure, TDP MP CM Ramesh said
Union Minister Garikapati Mohan Rao of the TDP said both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are in crisis and demanded a guarantee regarding the mode of payment to the States. He asked the Government to clear pending dues related to VAT before the passage of this Bill.
Hail Manmohan Singh for Bill
BJP’s long-time ally and NDA constituent SAD’s Naresh Gujral praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for bringing the GST. He said the GST Bill and the abolition of licence quota raj in 1991, both were a brainchild of Manmohan Singh and “he deserves nation’s applause and a debt of gratitude. “This Bill will result in much greater compliance and to a large extent help in the elimination of the black money in this country,” he added.
Include Andhra in spl category
V Vijay Sai Reddy of YSR Congress said the GST Council will make recommendations for special category States and asked for inclusion of Andhra Pradesh in the list.
He added that the States should be compensated 100 per cent for the revenue loss in the first five years after the roll out of GST.
Fair & transparent mechanism
TKS Elangovan (DMK) raised the issue of having a “fair and transparent mechanism” to provide compensation to the States for revenue loss.
Seeking compensation for MMC
Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena asked for a mechanism to compensate revenue loss to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the country’s richest local body. He asked for a mechanism where in the Corporation directly gets the funds from the Centre.
Entering unchartered territory
D Raja (CPI) said it is not yet clear as to what is in store. “We are going to enter an unchartered territory. We don’t know what are going to be the consequences as we are going to create a common market,” he said.
AIADMK— lONE DISSENTER