Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday raised the issue of problems being faced by textile manufacturers and traders owing to Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation. Some MPs also demanded that the sector be exempted from the new indirect tax.
Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu from Telangana highlighted the grievances of the handloom, power loom and the textile sector as a whole. “About 70 lakh workers are employed in the power loom sector. They are worried about the excessive slabs of the GST as it is hampering their livelihood. As a result, the entire textile sector is in agitation mode,” he said.
Mr. Rapolu said in Gujarat’s Surat and Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi, lakhs of workers were agitating. “Mahatma Gandhi wore handloom clothes. The sector needs to be protected."
Ahamed Hassan and Sukhendu Shekhar Roy raised the issue of strikes by traders in West Bengal, while member Ritabrata Banerjee said the State’s tailoring industry has also been affected. “The complexity of GST rules, the problem in maintaining GST audit and registration process has hit business and jobs of Ostagar (tailors),” he said.
