History will judge us poorly for not allowing Parliament to function: Arun Jaitley on GST Bill
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today came down heavily on Congress party for obstructing the passage of the crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament.He also
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today came down heavily on Congress party for obstructing the passage of the crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament.
He also said that history will record everything from disruptions to the role of the Chair who makes no effort to make the House function.
"I have no hesitation in saying when History is adversely recorded, it will include the role of each one of us. Probably when parliamentary democracy was being paralysed and progressive legislation was not allowed, it would not only record the disruptors, it will also record people like us. Be poetically leader of the House who wakes everyday to see the house doesn't function," he said.
"It will also record the Chair who makes no effort to make the House function. And therefore each one of us runs the danger of coming out extremely poorly when the History of hurting India's parliamentary system is recorded," he added.
The Finance Minister further claimed that the ruling coalition has enough number in the Upper House to pass the legislation.
"Even Rajya Sabha has required numbers to pass the GST Bill but they are not allowing the House to function. Actually they don't want India to grow because they slow down the growth when they were in power. Now they don't want it to grow when we are in power," he said.
Arun Jaitley minced no words in reminding the opposition that by deliberately disruting the parliament, they are setting a very bad precedent.
“If by sheer noise and disturbance, session after session of the Parliament is not allowed to function then this is a going to be precedence for Parliament of the future and all opposition for State legislation,”Jaitley said.
He further said the impasse over GST is resolvable provided there was an intention to resolve it.
“But if the intention is that India must not be allowed to grow, it had slowed down when I was in power [and] therefore it should slow down when somebody else is in power, if that is the intention then I am afraid we will have to find alternative methods of how to proceed with this,” he said.
The Finance Minister warned that if the parliament is not allowed to function then future governments will have no other option than to opt for executive function and money bill route.
“If by these tactics you become outlaws as far as parliamentary democracies are concerned, then you will make a decision-making process particularly in relation to legislation extremely difficult and governments in the future will have to realise decisions making have to take place through executive action and through money bill,” he said.
Jaitley further pointed out that in the coming year if GST gets implemented along with the proposed rationalisation of direct taxes, emphasis on infrastructure expenditure continues, there is increased spending on irrigation with expectations of a near-normal monsoon in the next season and revival of the global economy, there was no reason why the GDP rate will not rise by 1.5-2% in 2016-17.
The Finance Minister commended Indian trade and industry's unequivocal support to the early adoption of the GST Bill by Parliament.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance,said that India was on the threshold of making history. The self-policing nature of the GST regime will improve governance and ensure wilful compliance to tax demands, unify the country by eliminating all state taxes and levies and impart buoyancy to revenues both in the short and the medium term.
Dr Subramanian also pointed out that the early implementation of GST will help India get rid of charges of practicing 'tax terrorism'.
"We can really change the image of the country which was until recently practicing tax terrorism to one which really has a clean, efficient, modern broad-based tax system for the future and that could be one of the major reforms going forward,"
Highlights of the event:
* As far as dispute resolution mechanism is concerned even UPA govt had advocated it to be done by GST council: FM
* Demand for cap on 18% cap is unreasonable. How can rate and tariff be decided by constitution? What if there is a calamity and we need to impose taxes? What about sin products?: Jaitley
* 1% inter-state tax is negotiable: Jaitley
* Chidambaram mentioned GST in his 2006 Budget and Pranab Mukherjee introduced it in 2011 but there was no political consensus among states: Jaitley
* Our govt succeeded in evolving consensus. The Bill was sent to standing committee and again sent to Rajya Sabha select committee. We accepted all recommendations: FM
* In last session we told mood was not okay so wait till next session. Now in this session mood keeps changing: Finance Minister
* If this continues (Parliament disruption), legislative activity is going to become increasingly difficult: Jaitley
* We are in the process of formalising direct taxes. Hopefully from next fiscal: Jaitley
* Addition growth of 1.5-2% will take us to our true potential: Jaitley
* Session after session parliament is not being allowed to function and it will set a bad precedent even in states. This will go down in history: Jaitley
* Uncertainty and unpredictability worrying the entire world: Arun Jaitley
* We have been impacted by two continuous monsoon failures: Arun Jaitley
* Despite global slowdown, we have managed to attain respectable growth: Arun Jaitley
* Decision making needs to be curtailed from decades to years: Finance Minister
* India has right to grow faster, achieve full potential; nobody has right to stop, halt or slow down the process: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
* Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA): India is on the threshold of making economic history. There are 4 benefits: good governance by reducing corruption; simplify tax; growth in India; generator revenue to finance big schemes.
* Harish Rawat of Congress in his measage advocates consensus on the GST.
* IMF chief Christine Lagarde sends message of support for GST. More uniformity, more reasonable rate will result in more investment, more jobs. Best of luck in putting in place GST. Make 'Make in India' into a reality.
* Sunil Kanoria, President, ASSOCHAM: GST will be a game changer for the country as it is pro-people, pro-industry and pro-economy reform. He underlined the need for government and opposition to come together, rise above their differences and make GST a reality.
* Sumit Mazumder, President, CII: If the Constitution Amendment Bill is not passed in the winter session, it will be a big disappointment for industry and trade. He appealed to all political parties to support the passage of the Bill as GST will drive the 'Make in India' initiative for making 'One India'.
* Jyotsna Suri, President, FICCI: We appreciate the coming together of India's five premier industry bodies and the trading community to support the GST regime which holds the prospect of raising GDP, giving a competitive edge to manufacturing and creating jobs for the youth.
* Mahesh Gupta, President, PHDCCI: Tax laws similar to GST were prevalent in over 160 countries and the world was moving towards one market. Hence, it was imperative to make the states of India into a unified common market and there was no better time than now to implement GST when the world is still grappling with an economic slowdown.
* Pravin Khandelwal, National Secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT): Dr Raja Chelliah had said GST is the ultimate tax reform in country. After that, Vijay Kelkar committee had also recommended GST. As on today, more than 24 taxes are bothering traders. Officers of all different taxes come to us on a daily basis and take 'nazrana'. One tax will definitely help us. We need to tell opposition that what they are doing is not in our interest. Traders of the country will not tolerate tamasha on GST. We will be forced to come out on streets.