Slamming the Opposition for stalling important bills in Parliament, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that passing of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill would bring in more transparency in the tax system of the country.
“India will become one seamless market (with the introduction of GST) and result in economic integration of India,” said Mr Jaitley, launching the three flagship social security schemes of the NDA government.
The three schemes namely, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) would be the integral part of government’s economic policy, he said.
“States will stand to benefit more from GST,” said Mr. Jaitley adding that Maharashtra would get more share than before.
The GST Constitution Amendment Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha earlier this week. The Bill is now pending before Rajya Sabha, where the BJP government is not having a majority. The Constitution Amendment Bill needs to be approved by two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament.
Saying that the present government believes in more transparent governance, Mr. Jaitley said that no one needs to visit North Bloc or South Bloc to get allocation for coal or spectrum. “We have a transparent mechanism for allocation,” he said
He said that India had the potential to move from 7 to 8 per cent to a double-digit growth, but a higher growth in agriculture is the main challenge before the government.
Mr. Jaitley said that agriculture and irrigation will get higher allocation of resources. The additional resources the government gets will go to the poor. According to him, 20 to 25 per cent population was not getting funds for doing business which they will get through the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank.
He has also appreciated the work done by the public sector banks to make the PM’s Jan Dhan Yojana a huge success.
