Source : The Hindu
The GST Council will consist
of the Union Finance Minister (as Chairman), the Union Minister of State in
charge of revenue or Finance, and the Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation
or any other, nominated by each State government.
The Bill’s enactment would lead to a "win-win" situation for both
the Center and the states: Arun Jaitley.
The Modi government’s attempt
to secure parliamentary approval for the long-pending Goods and Services Tax
regime, a key reform measure, hit its first roadblock on Friday within minutes
of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moving it for consideration in the Lok
Sabha.
Impervious to Mr Jaitley’s
plea that the Bill’s enactment would lead to a “win-win” situation for both the
Centre and the states, increase the country’s GDP and its revenues, opposition
MPs belonging to the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left Parties and the
Nationalist Congress Party, led by Sonia Gandhi, walked out in protest against
the government’s refusal to send it to a Standing Committee.
The AIADMK and the Biju Janata
Dal, too, opposed the consideration but did not join the walkout. AIADMK leader
and Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai said that if implemented in its present form,
the Bill would result in Tamil Nadu losing as much as Rs 16,000 crores, a
contention contested by the Finance Minister.
More time sought to study GST
Bill
The Union government had been
banking on the Congress for help to pass the Goods and Services Tax Bill in
both Houses of Parliament. Since this key reform measure comes in the form of a
Constitution Amendment Bill, it requires two-thirds support, making the backing
of the Congress all the more critical.
Urging the Congress to support
the Bill, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stressed, “The UPA must start
supporting legislation that it itself introduced … You should be happy that the
good work which was done by your government, I’m accepting that, complimenting
you and taking it forward.”
However, the Congress is
unwilling to support this version of the Bill as it differs from the one that
the UPA government had drafted, a point that M. Veerappa Moily of the party
made.
Opposition MPs, alleging that
the government was “bulldozing” them and bringing the Bill in a “hush-hush”
manner, sought more time to study the “new” legislation. Meanwhile, they said,
Parliament could complete the financial business for which the Budget Session
was intended.
Mr. Jaitley assured the
Opposition of all cooperation from the government to complete the business of
demands for grants of various Ministries before the Guillotine is applied on
April 28.
After an hour of heated
exchanges over procedure between the government and the Opposition, the Bill
was taken up after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled that it was an important piece
of legislation on which the Finance Minister could make introductory comments,
with a discussion at a later date.
In his introductory remarks,
Mr. Jaitley sought to assuage fears of the States that they would suffer
revenue losses once the GST was implemented, saying the Centre and the States
would have concurrent powers to levy tax on goods and services.
Stressing that when the
value-added tax (VAT) was introduced, the States had demanded compensation for
more than five years, he said not a single State asked for compensation in the
sixth year.
