With their dear Mishti Doi (sweet curd) and Rosogolla getting dearer in the “GST raj,” the Bengali dadas on Saturday cried out even as many traders and consumers continued to call the new regime as “General Sales Tax” in place of “Goods and Services Tax,” apparently leading the ruling Trinamool Congress to ask Finance Minister Amit Mitra to educate the people on the new scheme of things.
Even as the Centre celebrated the roll-out of much awaited “one nation one tax” regime at the stroke of minight hour on Friday many vendors of sweet in Bengal expressed “despair at the way things were done.”
SK Mullik of the famous Balaram and Radharaman Mullick said the “sweet industry which is perhaps the only thriving industry in Bengal will languish under the new scheme which is why we have appealed to the Central Government to change or scrap the tax on the sweets.”
According to calculations which tended to vary from place to place perhaps on account of some misconstruing of tax rates rosogolla and sandesh attracted 5 per cent while mishti doi (sweet curd) had 12 per cent tax on it. Chocolate sandesh on the other hand will be taxed at 28 per cent whereas lassi and fruit pulp will fall under 12 per cent slab.
However, at a famous sweet outlet in South Kolkata, both misthi doi and rosogolla were being taxed at 5 per cent. “Things are very confusing and with the jail threat it is going to be nightmarish” said another vendor of sweets.
“At least 15 lakh people are dependent on the sweet industry involving Rs50,000 crore,” said a member of Bengal Mishtanna Samity adding the Government would do well to tweak the tax rates. “If the Finance Minister comes out with a good news for us we will definitely send mishti doi to him,” said Mrinmoy Moira a sweet vendor at Burdwan.
Scenes were slight different at malls were. While in some such outlets it was business as usual on the day one of GST in other places the management — yet not au fait with the new scheme of rates — allowed huge sales letting the customers benefit from traders’ ignorance. At one such mall which deals in garments, imitation jeweleries, and also eatables the management allowed a flat 50 per cent discount to clear stocks.
“We have consulted to the chartered firm before going for the stock clearance because at present we do not have the software fully ready and staff educated on the new system,” said Abhinav Jhunjhunwala a manager at the mall.
Elsewhere, even as Burrabazar Asia’s largest wholesale market, limped back to normalcy after three-day bandh and grappled with the new regime members of chambers of commerce said “it is like a labour pain for many of us. We know the system holds a good future but the main problem is with the hasty implementation.”
A member of Bengal Chamber said “the new system will instantly generate jobs perhaps to the tune of 50,000 with many shops immediately engaging computer professionals for updating their return status. Besides this will go miles towards tackling tax evasion.”
Notwithstanding his optimistic statement Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued to sound rebellious even as her party planned to reach out to the masses against the “hasty implementation of GST which will in the final run destroy the small traders and let the bigger ones thrive.”
Senior Bengal Minister Subroto Mukherjee quoted Banerjee as saying “at the stroke of midnight hours India again lost its freedom” to the western countries.” Banerjee said the new system “will bring back the Inspector Raj as the Government will let loose the inspectors with power to arrest traders which was not in the case of VAT. I am afraid, from the midnight of (Friday) will darkness loom large in the lives of entrepreneurs and common peopleIJ”
Mukherjee added “the new system will spell a doom for the small industry and traders and the Trinamool will hit the streets to organise this segment to start a new struggle. However, former Bengal Finance Minister and left leader Asim Dasgupta’s whose party boycotted the launch of the GST said in the final run “GST will be healthy for the economy.”