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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 15
Days after the Finance Ministers of Punjab and West Bengal had questioned the Centre for not convening the GST Council for over six months, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that its next meeting will be held on May 28.
The last GST council meeting was held in October last year.
Earlier this month, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal had raised concerns about the Centre taking unilateral decisions on subjects that come under the purview of the GST Council.
Punjab wants the GST Council to discuss whether GST should be exempted on Covid related items as well as giving relief to most-impacted sectors such as aviation, hotels, commercial reality and retail.
Economy Will Recover Next Financial Year: Punjab Finance Minister
Punjab Finance Minister, Makhdoom Hashim Javan Bakht, says the financial year (FY) 2021-22 will be the year of economic rehabilitation.
Chairing a pre-budget consultative meeting with leading economists under the Sub-National Governance Program in Lahore on Wednesday, he said that Universal Health Coverage Program would ensure a healthy society, and the special development package for the industrial sector would ensure economic recovery.
The provincial minister said that to increase agricultural production, the provision of services in the relevant sectors would be improved. The development of agro-related industries would also be an important part of the future development agenda, and providing social security would also be the top priority of the Punjab government in the next budget.
States have deciding rights in the council, he says
The GST council had not met in the last six months in violation of its own rules that a meeting should be held once every quarter, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said in a letter to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He said the Centre seemed to have usurped all the powers of the States.
The meeting assumed importance with COVID-19 significantly impacting the economy and key decisions on waiver of GST on implements such as sanitizers and masks needed to be taken urgently, he said.
The States have the deciding rights in the GST council. But with no meeting in the last six months, Mr. Badal said, many provisions have been enacted in recent times through the route of subordinate legislation (Rules). Mr. Badal also pointed out that the delegation of the authority to the Committee of Officers or GST Implementation Committee was meant for mundane matters and not to bring substantive changes.
Punjab Agrees To Implement Direct Bank Transfer For Farmers From April 10 Punjab Agrees To Implement Direct Bank Transfer For Farmers From April 10 Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, after a lengthy discussion with Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal on this issue, said the Centre rejected the state government s demand to give more time to implement direct bank transfer (DBT) of minimum support price (MSP) to farmers.
Punjab agrees to implement direct bank transfer for farmers from April 10. (Representational)
New Delhi:
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Thursday said the state government has no choice but to implement the Centre s mandated instruction on direct bank transfer of MSP to farmers from the current season.