NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday called for an immediate rollback of the hike imposed on Goods and Service Tax (GST) on daily commodities such as milk, rice, pulses, among other goods by the Centre.
“On one hand, the whole country is struggling with back-breaking inflation and on the other hand, the Centre has imposed GST on daily commodities and made them more expensive. I demand the Central Government to withdraw the GST imposed on food items. In the time of such inflation, Delhi is the only state giving some relief from inflation by providing education, healthcare, electricity, water free of cost,” he said.
The government through its various welfare schemes is enabling a saving of around Rs 10,000-15,000 per month for families living in the national capital, Kejriwal claimed. According to the Union finance ministry, GST would apply on ‘such specified goods where the pre-packaged commodity is supplied in packages containing a quantity of less than or equal to 25 kilograms.
He termed the move as “highly regrettable” amid”all time high” inflation in the country. Traders in the national capital also opposed the move and labelled food items, and termed it an “anti-people move”.
Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) chairman Brijesh Goyal said this is the first time since Independence that dal, rice, flour, cereals, curd, among other items, that used to be tax-free, have now been taxed. “We are against this decision. This will prove to be detrimental for the common man and traders,” said Delhi Grain Merchant Association president Naresh Kumar Gupta.