THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan on Sunday hailed GST (Goods and Services Tax) as the greatest reform the country had ever seen.
He also slammed critics of the move saying they were against it either due to political reasons or ignorance.
“All state governments were party to the GST deliberations and the new tax regime was formulated in full consensus. The Finance Minister of Kerala was also a part of the meetings,” said Harsh Vardhan while delivering a lecture on GST here on Sunday.
“GST has replaced the country’s complex tax system which had around 500 different taxes and cesses. The new system is online and transparent, thereby ending the harassment by inspectors. It will eliminate corruption and create more jobs,” he said.
The Vajpayee Government had first mooted the idea of a single tax regime, but the successive Congress governments at the Centre could not enact the legislation in their 10-year tenure, Harsh Vardhan said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not hesitate to take hard decisions if they are for the public good,” he said. Citing demonetisation as an example, he said the country benefited from it immensely.
The UP poll results proved people were supported demonetisation, he said.“In three years, the Parliament enacted over 100 laws. It was the Modi Government which framed rules for the Benami Act passed by the Rajiv Gandhi Government,” he said. O Rajagopal MLA, BJP state spokesperson J R Padmakumar, district resident Suresh and organising secretary Ganesh.