Disability rights groups reject GST

Say country to enter ‘dark’ phase after tax implementation

Several disability rights organisations held a protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday demanding a rollback of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Disabled Rights Group convener Javed Abidi said: “After the GST roll-out, India will once again enter a sad and dark period where simple and necessary appliances will be taxed. Which decent society taxes crutches, wheelchairs, Braille typewriters, and hearing aids? All our pleas have made no impression whatsoever.”

‘No affordable items’

The protesters noted that it was no longer about zero tax.

“We are invoking both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. We demand a market where items meant for differently-abled people are affordable,” the group maintained.