Remove GST on life-saving medicines, equipment used in COVID fight: Priyanka Gandhi to government

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday urged the Centre to remove GST on all life-saving medicines and equipment being used in the fight against COVID-19, asserting that charging tax on such items amid the pandemic amounts to "cruelty".

Her appeal to the government came ahead of the GST Council meeting, which decides on taxes on goods and services, later on Friday.

महामारी के समय एंबुलेंस, बेड, वेंटीलेटर, ऑक्सीजन, दवाइयों, वैक्सीन के लिए परेशान हुए लोगों से कोविड संबंधित उत्पादों पर GST वसूलना निर्दयता व असंवेदनशीलता है।

आज GST काउंसिल में सरकार को कोविड से लड़ाई में इस्तेमाल हो रही सभी जीवनरक्षक दवाइयों व उपकरणों पर से GST हटाना चाहिए। pic.twitter.com/nSN3lVZi8t

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) May 28, 2021

Recovering GST on COVID-related products from people who struggled for ambulances, beds, ventilators, oxygen, medicines, vaccines during the pandemic amounts to "cruelty and insensitivity", Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. "Today, in the GST Council, the government should remove GST on all life-saving medicines and equipment being used in the fight against COVID," the Congress general secretary said.

She also attached a list of items being commonly used in the fight against coronavirus and the rate of GST charged on them.