GST on langar: Punjab govt releases Rs 1.96 crore to SGPC

Amid a war of words over the GST refund for langar, the Punjab government on Tuesday said it has paid Rs 1.96 crore to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC).

"An amount of Rs 1,96,57,190 has been transferred to the bank account of the SGPC to settle the "entire pending" claim of the Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, after the completion of all necessary procedural processes," said an official release.

With this, not a single penny of the claim raised by the SGPC so far against this budgetary head was pending, said Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) KBS Sidhu.

He added that no claim had so far been received from the other two religious shrines - Durgiana Mandir, Amritsar, and Sri Valmik Sthal, Ram Tirath, Amritsar - for which the state government had in May this year allocated Rs 4 crore to the deputy commissioner.

Of the total allocated amount against the GST bills, Rs 3.5 crore was set aside for the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), Rs 35,000 for the Durgiana Mandir and the remaining for the Valmiki Sthal.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had already directed the finance and revenue departments to clear any further pending claims for the three shrines as soon as they are raised against the goods and services tax incurred with effect from August 1, 2017, the release said.

He has also instructed the immediate disbursal of all future claims of the three shrines, said Sidhu.

The SAD-BJP on Monday had accused Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of not refunding to the SGPC the GST charged on items bought for langars, with Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia saying he was a "habitual offender".

A war of words had erupted between Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and the Punjab CM over the release of the state's share of the GST.

Harsimrat had accused the state government of "reneging" on its commitment after which Amarinder Singh had dubbed the Union minister a "compulsive liar".