Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Tuesday charged the BJP government at the Centre with fleecing the common man for eight long years by imposing different tax slabs of GST and credited its party with forcing the Narendra Modi dispensation to undertake reforms, albeit belatedly.
The Congress blamed the government for a very slow and defective assessment system regarding relief and restoration for rain and flood-affected people in the Jammu region, expressing concern over the delay in the announcement of comprehensive relief by the Centre.
“After fleecing people for eight years, the BJP government now claims credit for reforms in its own anti-people GST regime. It is now calling it people-friendly after eight years of Congress pressure for reforms, which worked, though belatedly, after bringing the common man to its knees,” working president Raman Bhalla told reporters here.
He alleged that the BJP government has fleeced the common man for eight years through nine different tax slabs of GST, collecting lakhs of crores of rupees. “It was rightly described as Gabbar Singh Tax by LoP (Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi, and opposition pressure for reforms has finally worked,” he said.
The Congress leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP should apologise to the common people for the “ruthless” tax regime imposed eight years ago, despite the Congress’ reservations about multiple and confusing tax slabs.
“The Modi government changed one nation, one tax into one nation, nine taxes. It included tax slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent, 28 per cent and special rates of 0.25 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 3 per cent and 6 per cent.
“All essential items used by the poor and common people like dal, rice, pencils, notebooks, medicines and agricultural items were taxed, fleecing the common man,” he added.
He said these GST rates were anti-people and the Congress had demanded their review, but it took the BJP government eight years to do so. “The Congress had mentioned opposition to the Gabbar Singh Tax and promised reforms in 2024 in its (poll) manifesto.”
The former minister said the reforms now undertaken are the result of continuous pressure from Gandhi and the Congress party.
“It was the Congress that first announced GST in the Lok Sabha on Feb 28, 2005, and again in 2011, when then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee introduced the GST bill.”
He said it was needless to mention that “the current PM, who was the then CM of Gujarat, and the BJP” were the most vociferous opponents of GST.
“The same party today celebrates record GST collections from the common man through huge taxes, and according to reports, 64 per cent of collections in eight years were from the poor common man,” he added.
On the issue of relief and restoration for rain and flood-affected people, Bhalla termed the process very slow and the assessment system defective. He also expressed concern over the delay in the announcement of comprehensive relief by the Centre.
He expressed deep concern over paddy crops drying up due to the failure to restore power and irrigation in the border areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua.
“The farmers are crying, but restoration work is nowhere despite several representations by the Congress and farmer bodies. There is no progress on KCC loan waivers and other relief measures sought by people and highlighted by the Congress repeatedly,” he added.
Bhalla alleged that the house damage assessment system is defective and faulty, as the patwari and lower revenue staff are making assessments at their own will.
“Several complaints of improper assessments and non-inclusion of names are being received. It would be an injustice to poor people, while influential people will avail themselves of the benefits. We urge the government to direct the DCs and lower staff to include all damage cases and ensure proper assessments,” he added.
The leaders also said there are numerous complaints of non-restoration of water and power supply in several rural areas. “People are without a water supply for months, and supply motors have not been repaired. Even tanker services are not available in rural areas,” they added.
