Harsimrat writes to PM, seeks GST roll back on langar

Union Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to waive the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) on the ingredients used to make 'langar' in Gurudwaras.

"People across religions have said that there should be no tax on the material used for 'langar.' I've been fighting for this for a year. Now I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that no more delay should be there in removing GST from the material used for preparing langar," Harsimrat told ANI.

"Langar is one of the world's largest charitable kitchens. People who donate money at the shrine want it to be utilised for feeding as many people as possible. Now that GST has been imposed, the money that can be used to feed more people goes in tax," Harsimrat added.

In her letter to Prime Minister Modi, she stated that the Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar, ran the world's largest mega kitchen, offering free meals throughout the year to lakhs of people, the donation for which came from the humble offerings of devotees.

Earlier, the Bathinda MP had written a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.