New Delhi: Striking a personal note while announcing the launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST), President Pranab Mukherjee claimed that the GST was a momentous occasion and one in which he had a special role to play.
"The idea was first formally mooted in the Budget speech for the financial year 2006-07. The introduction of the GST is a momentous occasion for the country. But it is also a momentous occasion for me personally. I had introduced the Constitutional Amendment Bill in 2009 as the Finance Minister."
Mukherjee went to on to state that he remembered meeting the chief ministers of Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra a number of times to hold meetings over "many contentious issues". He added, "I found both in those meetings and in my many interactions with Chief Ministers, Finance Ministers and officers of states, that most of them had a constructive approach and an underlying commitment to the introduction of GST."
Mukherjee's reference to the Chief Ministers with whom he discussed "contentious issues" was not lost on the audience. Not certainly on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time.
The President went on to hail the new regime as a tribute to the “maturity of India’s democracy”.
“There were many contentious issues and yet I found that most of them had a constructive approach. I, therefore, remained confident that the GST was a matter of time and would eventually be implemented. In December 2016, after both Houses of Parliament passed the GST Bill, I had the privilege to assent to the 101st amendment as President,” Mukherjee said.
Lauding the unanimous all-party support for the tax reforms, he said, “It is a unique framework where Centre and states cannot take a decision without the support of each other. Even after 18 meetings of the GST Council, all decisions were taken by consensus. The Council has pleasantly surprised us all by completing its task. This is a tribute to the maturity of India’s democracy.”
Admitting the anxieties that the new law may trigger, the President said, “GST is a disruptive change, no doubt, as VAT was before it. But such big changes are always uncomfortable. I thank all those who were part of making this path breaking legislation.”
Comments
0 comment