PDP general secretary, Rafi Ahmad Mir, on Monday, said that government is trying to build consensus on Goods and Services Tax (GST) by involving all the stakeholders.

He said that convening a special assembly session was an opportune time to weigh the applicability of GST in the state.

Mir said that in a democracy everybody has the right to disagree and express their concerns. However, the government should be allowed to evolve a way forward without compromising the constitutional autonomy.

He said, “It is expected that the government would work on the modalities to protect the state laws and this was also assured by the Chief Minister. It is self-explanatory that PDP-led government is inviting a debate in broad daylight, thus keeping the aspirations of people in mind.”

He thanked the civil society and opposition members for expressing their concerns and urged them to be part of discussions and deliberations for a broader consensus.

Pertinently, the government failed to break the ice on the implementation of the new taxation system in the state after facing stiff opposition from several political parties.

The government had convened the All Party Meeting (APM) on GST at SKICC on June 13 to evolve the consensus before the assembly would take the final call on it.

However, the government failed to gain the consensus from the opposition in a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, after which it was decided that Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu would make certain amendments in the draft of the GST bill before the final decision is taken.

The government had to bite dust days after it tried to get the bill tabled in the assembly on June 17 for which a special session of the legislature was sought. However, the outburst by the opposition forced the government to seek adjournment of the house sine die.

Guest