Simplify strict provisions in Good and Service Tax: Vijay Prakash Jain

Maha sammelan of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) held in Amritsar
Amritsar: Akhil Bhariya Vyapaar Udyog Mandal’s national general secretary Vijay Prakash Jain has urged upon the Government of India (GoI) to simplify all the strict provisions in Good and Service Tax (GST) in the larger interests of the trade across the country.
Addressing the maha sammelan of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) here on Sunday, he added that GST had many strict provisions which were not in the favour of trade and traders. He termed these provisions as “bundle of terror” and sought that the GoI should take immediate measures to make GST “consumer-friendly”, so that it might serve the consumers in a better way. He said the government must keep in mind that the proposed implementation of GST was to greatly affect 6 crores traders across the country.
While interacting with the media persons, Jain predicted that the rate of GST was about to be fixed by November-end. He said the GST council was considering of fixing this rate at around 18 per cent whereas the Finance Commission wanted this rate between 12 per cent and 14 per cent. He opined that the government should fix only that rate, which should not affect adversely the traders.
The maha sammelan was attended by the traders and the PPBM office-bearers from across the state. Addressing the gathering, the PPBM state president Piare Lal Seth and general secretary Sunil Mehra said that there should not be the provision of prosecution in GST and the rate of GST should not be more than 18 per cent. They also demanded that textile trade be kept out of GST for first two years. The accountability of the departmental officials should also be fixed if the accountability of the traders was to be fixed.
Speakers expressed resentment over the partiality being shown between the urbanites and the ruralites by the state government. They regretted that on one hand the farmers were being given Rs.6300 crore free power to farmers and on the other hand burden of additional taxes was being imposed on traders in Punjab. They said they were not against the free power being given to poor farmers but there was no fun of giving free power to rich farmers.
They said the economy of Punjab was getting deteriorated day by day. About 20,000 industrial units from Mandi Gobindgarh, Ludhiana, Batala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar and many other cities across Punjab have shifted to other states due to faulty policies of the state government. Besides, about 62,000 units have got surrendered their VAT numbers, they revealed.
The PPBM leaders demanded action against the corrupt officers against whom cases were registered in the past. They sought holding of CBI inquiries against these officers. They also demanded a thorough probe into allegations of a big scam into the VAT refunds in Punjab. They also demanded immediate release of pending VAT refund worth Rs.1,000 crore. They said none was able to get VAT refund without paying bribe money to the departmental officials.
They regretted that the infrastructure had not been developed in the last ten years across Punjab whereas the state government was making false claims of developing the state. They expressed their concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. They said the prevailing situation was harming interests of the trade.
They said the state government was failing in providing adequate facilities to people of Punjab and the trade and industry as well. The Suvidha Centers were proving utter failure. They demanded issuance of white paper on all these problems.
They said the traders would support only those in the forthcoming Punjab Assembly elections who would speak for them because the ruling alliance had never tried to listen to their voice. The ruling party would have to pay the price for its misdeeds in the coming assembly elections, they said.
They further said that the Food Safety Act should not be implemented till the department was fully equipped with proper infrastructure.
Those present on the occasion included the PPBM leaders Mohinder Aggarwal, SK Wadhwa and Sameer Jain.