All traders have accepted GST, need handholding, says Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday at a meeting of top bureaucrats said that traders all over the country have accepted the new GST regime and the entire community is positive about it.

But, at the same time, he accepted that they needed a bit of a handholding on the new taxation arrangement so that their problems can be resolved.

During a monthly review meeting which the Mr Modi conducts on stalled infrastructure projects, he urged the chief secretaries to use the district administration in this regard so that small traders are facilitated to access and adopt the GST regime, sources said.

At the meeting, PM reiterated that small businesses must register with the GST network to take advantage of business opportunities, sources informed further. He said that the common man and the trader must benefit from this “path-breaking” decision, a statement issued by the PMO added. He called for sustained efforts to boost digital payments and work towards a less cash society.

Reviewing the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to the banking sector, he asked the secretary, financial services, to look at ways to increase the use of RuPay debit cards that have been issued to Jan Dhan account holders, the statement said.

He briefed on the relief that has been received by the Jan Dhan account holders, as part of the insurance provisions that are linked to these accounts, it added.

The Prime Minister reviewed the progress of nine infrastructure projects in the railway, road, power, coal and gas pipeline sectors.  These projects, with a cumulative worth of over Rs 37,000 crore, are spread states including Telangana, Karnataka and many more.