The Communist Party of India State unit has demanded that the State Government give clarity on the additional burden incurred by the State ex-chequer consequent on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime.
Party national secretariat member K. Narayana took strong objection to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley snubbing Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his Cabinet colleagues on the impact of the GST on the State. “The Union Minister’s indication that the picture presented by the Chief Minister and his Cabinet is incorrect is tantamount to hurting the self-respect of Telangana. The Government owes an explanation on this count,” he said.
The attitude of the State and Central Governments in trying to forcibly implement the new tax regime was evident from the fact that people who were protesting against the losses that would be incurred by them post-GST were not allowed to represent their issues to the Union Government. The State Government on its part had not taken the opposition parties into confidence, he said over the burden that would be cast by the GST regime on public works like Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya.
He criticised the Union Government for its claims that tax on 30 items had been reduced and said the reduction in taxes was effected for the corporate sector while the burden continued on the common man. Industries like textiles and beedi manufacturers would suffer hardships because of the GST regime, but the Central Government failed to give clarity on its stand on reducing the burden for these sections.
While the Centre had not taken a view on the problems expressed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in his letter to the Union Minister, the Chief Minister on his part was toeing the Central Government’s line on every count. Criticising the Centre for not bringing petroleum products under the ambit of the GST
