GOVT CLAIMS BROADER CONSENSUS;Mehbooba discusses GST preparedness at all-party meet

STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday convened an all-party meeting to discuss various issues pertaining to the GST rollout in the state.
In her opening remarks, the chief minister said the idea behind convening the meeting was to evolve a broad-based consensus on adopting any tax regime in the state.
She appealed the representatives of all political parties to come forward with their suggestions and remarks on the subject so that a view, which represents the aspirations of all sections of the society, is taken by the government.
Thanking the members of all political parties for attending the meeting, Mehbooba said the implementation of GST regime in the state is a subject matter of collective decision by every section of society and not of the government alone.
She hoped that fruitful discussions on the subject would be held in the Assembly during forthcoming special session.
The chief minister said the government is open to suggestions from all sections including political quarters and business class.
She hoped the participants would discuss the provisions of proposed laws in detail and come up with concrete suggestions and recommendations by which the fiscal and political autonomy of the state is not affected if the proposed law is decided to be enacted. The meeting was attended by Muhammad Sartaj Madni, Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Nizammudin Bhat from PDP; Muhammad Shafi, Abdul Rahim Rather, Devinder Singh Rana and Nasir Aslam Wani from National Conference; Ghulam Hassan Mir from DPN; Hakim Muhammad Yasin from PDF; Sheikh Abdul Rashid from Awami Itihaad Party; M Y Tarigami from CPI(M); Nawang Rigzin Jora, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, Usman Majeed and G N Monga from Congress; Sat Sharma from BJP; Harshdev Singh from National Panthers Party and Pawan Gupta, MLA, Udhampur.
Meanwhile, according to an official spokesman, all the political parties broadly agreed that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be on the loser’s side if it is not brought under GST regime which will be rolled out on July 1. However, they argued that the extension should not come at the cost of compromising the state’s fiscal autonomy
Minister of Finance, Dr Drabu, highlighted the broader contours of the new tax regime and the benefits that it will accrue to Jammu and Kashmir. He said staying away from GST is not a realistic option for the state.
“The meeting had been called to give broad sense and discuss the issues with the new tax regime.,” he said.
He said J&K Legislature can enact a comprehensive GST law where tax will be levied corresponding to aggregate SGST and CGST. “We will harmonize GST in J&K by extension of only such limbs of Constitutional Amendment 101 which are already applicable to JK, thereby keeping special status and fiscal autonomy intact,” he said.
“In the event of non-participation by J&K, the state will become isolated having a closed door economy with all negative consequences and cascading tax which will adversely impact the economy and trade in the state,” Dr Drabu said.
Senior PDP leader and Member of Parliament, Muzaffar Hussain Baig and BJP’s state president, Sat Sharma, and PDP vice-president, Sartaj Madni, were also present in the meeting.