Chief Ministers belonging to various Opposition parties on Wednesday got together and discussed the issue of GST compensation to States, with Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying the Centre’s refusal to reimburse the States was nothing short of betrayal of the people by the Narendra Modi government.
Sonia Gandhi chairs a virtual meeting with Chief Ministers of 7 states to discuss various issues
New Delhi:
Gandhi had convened a virtual meeting of Chief Ministers of opposition-ruled States to discuss key issues confronting them.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States Amarinder Singh, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and V Narayanasamy attended the meeting.
Under the law that governs GST, states have been guaranteed payment for loss of revenue in the first five years since the GST came into force on July 1, 2017. But most states have been complaining of not getting enough GST compensation and that too on time, putting them at risk of massive revenue deficit running into thousands of crores. “In the meeting of the standing committee of finance on August 11, the Finance Secretary clearly said the Central government is not in a position to pay their mandatory compensation of 14 per cent for the current year. This refusal to compensate states is nothing short of betrayal on the part of the Narendra Modi government, betrayal of state governments and people of India,” Gandhi said at the meeting, adding, GST was enacted as an example of cooperative federalism.