Uniformity in levying GST on food items required: Bengal official

West Bengal Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya on Wednesday demanded the centre bring uniformity in levying GST on various food items in the country.

"We want uniformity. Why is there no GST levied on lassi, when it is levied on mishti doi (sweet curd)?" he asked while talking on 'Politics Of Food' at the India Today Conclave East here.

Echoing his claims, Congress' Tripura unit Working President Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma alleged that the centre made "a conscious effort" to divide people over their food habits.

"There was a conscious effort to divide people over their taste, but it was wasted. BJP ministers have to justify their actions at home. In the East, it's a tried and failed experiment to divide people over food," he said.

Sudip Mallick, owner of the city based confectionery chain Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick, who was also a participant, claimed GST was not levied on lassi as it "is a staple food of north India, and Chhaach (buttermilk) is the staple food in the west."

BJP is in power in most of the north and western Indian states.

"Two lakh shops were closed in Bengal over GST," Mallick added.

--IANS

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