Jharkhand Assembly ratifies GST

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and became the third state to ratify the bill after Assam and Bihar. Except for dissenting Communist Party of India-Marxist and Leninist (CPI-ML) legislator Raj Kumar Yadav, the bill was passed unanimously in the state Assembly. "India has a tradition and culture to take taxes. The GST will end the tax discrimination and it will end the British tax system," said Jharkhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Rai while tabling the GST bill in the Assembly. Opposition parties like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and the Congress supported the bill but expressed concern over its format and its impact on the states. Speaking on the occasion Pradeep Yadav, a JVM-P MLA, said, "The GST bill is a consumption based tax and Jharkhand has low consumption in comparison to other states and this way the state will suffer. Jharkhand is a small state where many people's per day income is just Rs 25." "The second issue is that on what grounds will the central government compensate the state. Jharkhand has witnessed 40 per cent growth in revenue collection in the last three years. What will be the base year of the compensation," he asked. Leader of Opposition and JMM Executive President Hemant Soren said, "Has the state government studied the impact of GST on Jharkhand. The state government before discussing the issue should have prepared a draft of its impact on the state. The GST is a consumption based tax and Jharkhand cannot be compared with Delhi, Haryana and others." "We request the state government to prepare a draft and discuss it in the Assembly before going to the GST council." Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, "The GST will end corruption in the country. When VAT was introduced in 2005 there was fear of losing taxes but Jharkhand gained from VAT, similarly state will gain after GST is implemented."