Government walked extra mile to explain GST to Congress: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the government has walked the extra mile to explain the Goods and Service Tax (GST) to the Congress but they only seemed bent on "paralysing the country".

"Government has walked an extra mile to explain GST to Congress. But their agenda is to paralyse the country," Jaitley said at a discussion at Agenda Aaj Tak 2015.

"People who are trying to disrupt the Parliament have no right to do it."

Saying that he had never opposed GST Bill, he added: "I have offered to Congress GST Council that it will resolve disputes and form a dispute redressal forum, as was proposed by (former finance minister) P. Chidambaram."

To break the ongoing deadlock between the government and the opposition over passage of the GST Bill, which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority, Jaitley will be meeting Congress leaders on Monday.

There were daily disruptions in parliament over the National Herald case, and no business was being transacted in the Rajya Sabha all this week.

Talking about the National Herald case and continuous disruptions in the parliament, Jaitley said: "Congress is holding country's democracy to ransom over the web it created by its own financial transaction in the National Herald case."

He mentioned that the government has not done anything in the case. "We will wait for outcome of the judicial process in the National Herald case."

Jaitley also stressed that the transfer of Enforcement Directorate chief Rajan S. Katoch was not related to the case.

On black money, the finance minister said: "There is black money both inside and outside the country. We are always making an effort to bring back black money from outside to India. We will not leave any stone unturned in this regard."

He also said the government got a lot of information from Swiss Bank on black money.

Regarding the inflation scene, Jaitley noted that it is under control. "For some objects there is an increase in price. We will investigate the reasons and contain those prices."

On divestment targets in the country, he said: "I am lagging behind disinvestment targets, I am conceding... I am not going to commit the mistake of divesting when prices are low."