No consensus on GST, Jammu and Kashmir session may be deferred

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has failed to build consensus on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax in the state, during an all-party meeting on Tuesday, as the Opposition reiterated that the law would weaken the special status of the state. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has agreed to call further meetings to further deliberate on the issue and even defer assembly session after it will formally start June 17.

Opposition leaders claimed that they proved to the government that the implementation of GST in its current form in the state would weaken the special status of the J&K guaranteed by the Constitution. “The government didn’t produce any document in the meeting. There was no consensus. GST at the cost of fiscal autonomy is not acceptable to us. We were not made aware of what government is planning to produce before the assembly,” former J&K finance minister and National Conference leader, who also chaired the empowered committee on GST, Abdul Rahim Rather told ET.

Devender Rana of NC said that the government will provide relevant documents to Opposition leaders to ensure smooth implementation of the law in the state.

“The chief minister agreed that the assembly session will be deferred after obituary references on June 17,” he said. CPM legislator Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami claimed that the government was not clear about their point of view over the issue and thus no consensus could be built in the meeting. “Even Muzzaffar Hussain Baig of PDP accepted that the government needs to prepare in more detail. They read some lines from a resolution in the meeting, which has no legal and constitutional standing,” said Tarigami.

The Congress went by the stand of other Opposition leaders and said that the economic autonomy of the state cannot be ‘bartered’ for ‘meagre’ gains.