PM uses Rajya Sabha farewell speech to raise stuck GST

With BJP-led NDA key bills including on the Goods and Service Tax (GST) getting stalled as the NDA does not have numbers on its side in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday rued that the Upper House did not give a green signal to the biggest indirect tax reform measure since Independence.

While expressing gratitude to the 53 retiring members, Mr Modi noted that Rajya Sabha members are representatives of the states and the interest of their state should be a priority for them.

The PM said that while the House passed many important reform measures, “it would have been better if two critical decisions had also been approved”, as he referred to the GST Bill and the one on Compensatory Affores-tation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

“Bihar and Uttar Pradesh would benefit from GST. Barring one or two states, all states would have benefited from GST,” he said.

The GST, which will subsume all indirect taxes into a single GST rate, was to be implemented from April 1, 2016. But opposition from the Congress over key clauses, including a cap on the tax rate, stalled its passage in the Upper House. The Lok Sabha has already approved the constitutional amendment.

On the CAMPA, the Prime Minister said that states would have got Rs 42,000 crore if the legislation on it was passed and also added that each state would have got Rs 2,000-3,000 crore. The bill seeks to establish the national compensatory afforestation fund to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating forest land diverted to non-forest uses. He also said what the Upper House can do for the states, no other House can do. He also said that the Upper House has a special privilege as it can bid goodbye to retiring members and also welcome new ones as the Lok Sabha does not have this benefit.

Expressing gratitude to the retiring members, Mr Modi said, “Both (UPA and current NDA) governments benefited from their knowledge and experience. This government benefited less, the previous one benefited more.”

He added that the nation has benefited from their Parliamentary contributions.

In his speech to the retiting members, Congress’s Anand Sharma said while the House cleared important legislations like Bangladesh land boundary agreement, insurance bill that had been pending for seven years and the insolvency bill, it was true that there was delay in some. He blamed ideological differences for it, saying they had led to stalling of the GST bill for years when the UPA was in power.

He also said that a wrong image was created outside that no work is transacted in Rajya Sabha and added that obstructions are part of democracy and are used to put across reservations on policies and programmes.

He, however, regretted the “bitterness” in political discourse saying debate and discussion are part of India’s rich democratic legacy.