SAD asks Congress to waive GST on langar in all religious institutions on pattern of exemption given by centre
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked the Congress government to waive off State GST on langar on all religious and charitable institutions on the pattern of the central government instead of practicing deceit by not even fulfilling the solemn commitment made in Vidhan Sabha to waive off GST on langar items served at Shri Darbar Sahib.
In a statement, former finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa said it was shocking that the Punjab government as well as its finance minister Manpreet Badal had failed to fulfil its basic promise to waive GSTon langar purchases made for Shri Darbar Sahib, what of extending this relieve to all religious and charitable organisations as done by the centre.
Explaining the entire issue, Mr Dhindsa said the SAD gave a commitment on the floor of the Assembly that since the Congress government had shown a little seriousness in waiving off State GST for Shri Darbar Sahib, it would approach the centre for the same. “Union food processing industry minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal took up this onerous task and built a consensus on this issue by meeting various chief ministers besides conveying the sentiments of the Sikh community to the Prime minister. The result has been a complete exemption of central GST for all religious and charitable institutions be it Shri Darbar Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, Ram Teerath or mosques and churches”.
Castigating the Congress government for indulging in an eye wash by promising a GST waiver and then running away from it, the Akali leader asked the Punjab government to waive off State GST on all religious and charitable institutions immediately.
Mr Dhindsa said this was not the only example of opportunist politics practiced by the Punjab government. He said the Congress government was double crossing Punjabis by refusing to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel, which was the highest in North India, even as the Pradesh Congress was indulging in sham dharnas to demand reduction on central excise duty on petroleum products.
Mr Dhindsa said even though the central government was examining a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal had clearly stated that he would not allow any reduction in VAT being imposed by the State on both petroleum products. Asking both the Congress government as well as the Pradesh Congress as to whom they were fooling, Mr Dhindsa said the finance minister should clearly spell out why he was refusing to give any relief to the common man. He said Kerala had slashed VAT to reduce fuel prices by Rs one per liter. “Similarly six BJP States have slashed VAT to bring it down to 26 per cent on petrol and 15 per cent on diesel. The Chandigarh administration has affected a slash to bring it down to 19 per cent on petrol and eleven per cent on diesel. In Punjab VAT on petrol and diesel is Rs 37.54 and Rs 17.78 respectively.
Asking Manpreet Badal to get down to governance instead of just hyper ventilating about empty treasuries, Mr Dhindsa said people wanted him to deliver and not keep making excuses. “He also needs to be sensitive towards the sentiments of Punjabis regarding key religious and financial issues concerning them like waiving off GST on langar and reducing VAT on petrol and diesel. He failed to do anything on the langar issue. Now at least he must try to mitigate the sufferings of the common man by doing what is in his hands by reducing VAT on petrol and diesel on the Kerala model or bringing the petroleum products under GST, Mr Dhindsa added.
