Bengal will continue to raise its voice against GST, fight for SMEs: Mitra

Mitra said the state government, under leadership of Mamata Banerjee, had repeatedly asked Centre not to implement GST in haste

West Bengal would continue to raise its voice against the faulty implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had cost the nation in every manner, state finance and industry minister Amit Mitra said on Tuesday.

"I am going to Guwahati for the next meeting of the GST Council. I will continue to raise the state's voice and fight for the small and medium scale units," Mitra said at an event organised jointly by several chambers of commerce here.

Mitra said the state government, under the leadership of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, had repeatedly asked the Centre not to implement GST in haste.

GST was implemented in the country from July 1, 2017.

"You see the consequences now. There had been tweaking in the GST rates every time the council met. This is the result of hasty implementation of GST," Mitra said adding, West Bengal was always in favour of the new tax regime as it would do away with the multiplicity of taxes.

Mitra said that during the last six years of Trinamool Congress rule, the state had performed better on every count.

State education and biotechnology minister Partha Chatterjee said that in the last six years, there had been no militant trade unionism and not a single event of strike,

"Unlike during the Left Front (rule), not a single strike has taken place. There had been state-sponsored strike in the state which was common during the previous regime," he said.