THE 4 ARCHITECTS OF LANDMARK BILL

Asim Dasgupta

In 2000, the government set up an empowered group of finance ministers to hammer out the GST bill. It was headed by then West Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta. The MIT professor-turned Marxist leader held long discussions with other states, industry bodies and other stakeholders to curve a GST model.

Vijay Kelkar

The Kelkar Task Force on the implementation of the FRBM Act, 2003, pointed out problems of a cascading indirect tax regime. It suggested a comprehensive GST based on a value-added tax principle. As chairman of the 13th finance commission, Vijay Kelkar again pitched for GST. He proposed the formation of a national GST Council.

P Chidambaram

P Chidambaram was the first finance minister to include the proposal for an indirect tax reform in the Union budget of 2006. After his return to North Block that houses the finance ministry in 2012, Chidambaram worked tirelessly, created committees and subcommittees to ensure all state grievances are noted and resolutions found. He set a deadline of December 2012 to resolve all issues raised by states. But with Lok Sabha elections approaching in 2014, it was difficult for him to get to the finish line.

Arun Jaitley

BJP is all set to be credited for ushering in one of the biggest tax reforms of India. But bulk of the credit has to go to finance minister Arun Jaitley, whose efforts since 2014, made the impossible possible by getting all states to put aside their political agenda and support GST. Even during moments of hopelessness, Jaitley batted for consensus. His friendly overtures towards Congress in the RS ensured the passing of a constitutional amendment in August 2016, paving the way for GST.