August 3, 2017
Saugata Roy speaks on The Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Amendment Bill, 2017
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, I will be very brief.
Earlier, in the city of Chandigarh, which is a Union Territory under the Government of India, entertainment tax and entertainment duty was collected by the Centre. Now, the Centre has decided that the collection of entertainment tax and entertainment duty will be passed on to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. This will mean a gain of Rs 17 Crore to the Corporation which will be necessary because Chandigarh is a beautiful city; it needs money for its upliftment.
Having said that, let me also state that our party has always been in favor of introducing GST. We had some reservation about introducing it in a hurry on the July 1, 2017, which is why we did not attend the midnight session of Parliament.
All I want to say is that now one month has elapsed since July 1; there are some hiccups, there have been complaints. I hope that all the decisions will be taken in the GST Council – which has been taking decisions unanimously – and there will be moderation in the tax rate. These five tax rates of 0, 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent should not remain and especially regarding those matters on which there is contention. For example, women have demanded reduction of tax on sanitary napkins. Mr Jaitley explained that, on the issue of GST on cloth, etc., the consensus reached in Parliament will be looked into.
With that Sir, I support the Bill. It is good for the country.
