Renewed GST bid: Govt, Oppn talk about extended monsoon session

Armed with victory on the One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue, the NDA government on Sunday made a renewed appeal to the Opposition to help pass the goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill via an extended monsoon session. The government has not yet informed President Pranab Mukherjee that the monsoon session has ended, which means the door is open for calling a short session to clear the Bill.

It has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, vetted by a committee in the Rajya Sabha, and is awaiting clearance in the Upper House where the government does not have a majority. In the committee, the Congress, AIADMK and Left parties have opposed GST in its present form and have given dissent notes.

However, the SP that walked out of the Opposition alliance led by the JD(U) has said it is not opposed to GST. The BSP has said it is not opposed but would not like to see it passed amid din. The TMC is committed to passing the Bill, as is the BJD. These parties are opposed to the politics of NDA but support the GST Bill.

Moreover, with the government clearing OROP, it is politically on a strong wicket. The Congress has said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu have already spoken to Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, its heads in the two Houses, on the issue. The government is in the process of reaching out to other Opposition parties.

While Naidu has urged the Congress to cooperate, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said, "It is the prerogative of the government to reconvene Parliament, but we will take a considered view on GST in keeping with the issues we have raised and how the government addresses our concerns."

CONGRESS WILL SUPPORT GST IF…

• Ceiling of GST rate is 18%
• Compensation fund is set up
• There is clear definition of the word ‘supply/ies’
• Tobacco and its products, alcohol for human consumption and electricity supply are included in clause 12 of CAB with a caveat of being included by the council within five years
• Voting share of states is increased to 75%
• Setting up of a GST disputes settlement authority is set up
• Sources of revenue of panchayats and municipalities are safeguarded
• Special consideration by the council towards states and Union Territories whose population does not exceed two million

A Congress leader asserted that the GST Bill being a Constitutional amendment legislation, there would be clause-by-clause voting and since the Congress had given dissenting notes on several issues, it would be free to oppose the clause(s) they have a difference of opinion over. In all likelihood, such clauses would fail to make it. Every clause needs to be passed by two-thirds of members present. That apart, the Congress was "not opposed to the GST", the leader said. The Congress has three concerns: The tax should be capped at 18 per cent tax as opposed to 24 per cent at present; there should be no extra interstate levy of one per cent, which is an invitation for corruption; and there should be a mechanism for grievance and complaint redressal.

The government's biggest concern is that if the legislation does not clear the monsoon session, it will not be ready for an April 2016 rollout.

With the Congress sticking to its opposition to the present version of the Bill, it was hard to see how the legislation would pass. The last session was a complete washout because of alleged corruption in the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Chhattisgarh is also ruled by the BJP. However, the outreach by the government suggests it is making a determined bid to ensure the passage of the GST in some form.