As the much-awaited Goods and Services Tax Bill (GST) to amend the Constitution is likely to be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today briefed BJP lawmakers on the fine prints of India's biggest tax reform in decades.
He also informed them about the amendments the government will introduce in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow, and also the reasons why the government decided to make those changes.
Mr Jaitley, according to sources, has told the BJP lawmakers to read and understand the bill and follow the proceedings to counter the misgivings, if any, about the GST in their constituencies
The Congress is expected to carry out a similar awareness drive for its MPs.
Meanwhile, the two major parties in the house - the Congress and the BJP - have issued a whip to their lawmakers "to be in the house everyday till Thursday".
The BJP is planning to field speakers who can make strong pitch for the bill and highlight how the NDA government worked with states and parties to make the bill people and business friendly.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram will brief the Congress lawmakers. The party speakers, while backing the GST, are expected to flag that the bill primarily came from the Congress and it was the BJP which opposed it then.
The Congress, during the debate, is likely to emphasise on how hard the party bargained to ensure that the GST rate remains low and also the redressal mechanism with greater say for states.
The GST could get the Rajya Sabha nod on Wednesday with the main opposition party, the Congress, declaring that it has arrived at "a broad understanding" with the government after months of negotiations.
There was last lap tussle over when the bill would be taken up. Government wanted the GST to be debated and voted on Tuesday , but the Congress forced a delay to Wednesday because the party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders are campaigning in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
But the 24 hour delay now seems worth the wait as the Congress 'Anand Sharma on Tuesday said, "All the issues we have raised are there in the GST constitutional amendment," he was referring to the proposal that will change the constitution to introduce the GST, a national sales tax which subsumes a complex matrix of central and state tariffs.
The Congress has been talked out of insisting that the limit on the tax rate be stated in the law. That would require changing the constitution each time the rate had to be revised. "On the capping (on GST rate) we still want ring fencing and states to come to an agreement with the centre," Mr Sharma said.
GST could add up to two percentage points to economic growth, according to Mr Jaitley, who has led consultations with state governments, regional parties and the Congress to win consensus.
The GST Bill was cleared last year by the Lok Sabha, where the government has an easy majority. On Wednesday, it must get the support of two thirds of the Rajya Sabha, which has 243 members.
The Congress has the biggest presence with 60 members. With a slew of regional parties backing the reform, the government believes it can get 162 votes - what it needs to turn the proposal into law - even if the Congress is not on board.
But the Congress' cooperation is needed so that it does not cause disruptions to ensure the bill is not debated - a practice it has exercised in earlier sessions of parliament.
Source:-indiatimes
Viewmore:-Punjab Mobile Number Database
He also informed them about the amendments the government will introduce in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow, and also the reasons why the government decided to make those changes.
Mr Jaitley, according to sources, has told the BJP lawmakers to read and understand the bill and follow the proceedings to counter the misgivings, if any, about the GST in their constituencies
The Congress is expected to carry out a similar awareness drive for its MPs.
Meanwhile, the two major parties in the house - the Congress and the BJP - have issued a whip to their lawmakers "to be in the house everyday till Thursday".
The BJP is planning to field speakers who can make strong pitch for the bill and highlight how the NDA government worked with states and parties to make the bill people and business friendly.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram will brief the Congress lawmakers. The party speakers, while backing the GST, are expected to flag that the bill primarily came from the Congress and it was the BJP which opposed it then.
The Congress, during the debate, is likely to emphasise on how hard the party bargained to ensure that the GST rate remains low and also the redressal mechanism with greater say for states.
The GST could get the Rajya Sabha nod on Wednesday with the main opposition party, the Congress, declaring that it has arrived at "a broad understanding" with the government after months of negotiations.
There was last lap tussle over when the bill would be taken up. Government wanted the GST to be debated and voted on Tuesday , but the Congress forced a delay to Wednesday because the party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders are campaigning in Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
But the 24 hour delay now seems worth the wait as the Congress 'Anand Sharma on Tuesday said, "All the issues we have raised are there in the GST constitutional amendment," he was referring to the proposal that will change the constitution to introduce the GST, a national sales tax which subsumes a complex matrix of central and state tariffs.
The Congress has been talked out of insisting that the limit on the tax rate be stated in the law. That would require changing the constitution each time the rate had to be revised. "On the capping (on GST rate) we still want ring fencing and states to come to an agreement with the centre," Mr Sharma said.
GST could add up to two percentage points to economic growth, according to Mr Jaitley, who has led consultations with state governments, regional parties and the Congress to win consensus.
The GST Bill was cleared last year by the Lok Sabha, where the government has an easy majority. On Wednesday, it must get the support of two thirds of the Rajya Sabha, which has 243 members.
The Congress has the biggest presence with 60 members. With a slew of regional parties backing the reform, the government believes it can get 162 votes - what it needs to turn the proposal into law - even if the Congress is not on board.
But the Congress' cooperation is needed so that it does not cause disruptions to ensure the bill is not debated - a practice it has exercised in earlier sessions of parliament.
Source:-indiatimes
Viewmore:-Punjab Mobile Number Database
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