PM in Lok Sabha: GST is a great step by team India, great step towards transformation

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a “Great Step by Team India,” a “Great Step Towards Transformation,” and a “Great Step Towards Transparency.”

He was intervening during the debate in the Lok Sabha on the GST Bill.

The Prime Minister noted the date – 8th August – and recalled that in 1942, on this very day Mahatma Gandhi had given the call for the Quit India Movement. He said that today, the country would begin its march towards freedom from tax terrorism.

He described the imminent passage of the Bill as a victory not for any political party, but for Indian democracy.

Recalling the discussions and parleys on the Goods and Services Tax, the Prime Minister said that he had invited both Ms. Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to discuss the same. He noted that one of them was a Lok Sabha MP and the other was a Rajya Sabha MP.

The Prime Minister said that the consensus over GST is proving that Rashtraneeti is above Rajneeti (national issues are above politics) in India.

He described the GST as one more pearl in the necklace of Ek Bharat – much on the lines of the Railways, the All India Services, and visions such as Bharat Net and Sagarmala.

With GST, we intend to bring uniformity in taxation, said the Prime Minister, adding that the consumer would be supreme in the new dispensation. The Prime Minister mentioned the judicious use of man, money, machine, material and minutes (time) as an important principle of sound economic policy, and said GST would aid in achieving this.

The Prime Minister said GST would also help bring in real time data, as its strength was in technology. He said most of the things that can impact consumer inflation have been kept out of the ambit of GST. He said GST would help reduce corruption in collection, as well as the cost of collection.

The Prime Minister asserted that small businesses will also gain tremendously from GST, and will feel more secure with GST.

The Prime Minister said that the Government is focusing on economic and educational empowerment of the poor, so that we can mitigate poverty.