Khadi rebate and discount days reduced in Rajasthan
Rajasthan government has reduced its rebate on khadi and also has made a deduction in the number of discount days on the fibre.
It has been a cause of disappointment for the khadi lovers after the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on ready made khadi and now the reduction on the duration of discount.
Secretary of the Hadauti Khadi Gram Udhyog Samiti, Kota, Kamal Kishore Sharma said that the state government has been offering 10% discount over the last three decades and the Union government has been providing 20% discount for over the last three months to ensure a cumulative rebate of 30% on khadi in Rajasthan.
“Rajasthan government has reduced the Khadi rebate from 10% to 5% this year, lowering the total rebate from 30% to 25%,” Sharma said.
The government used to provide the discount for 108 days (not in a single stretch) till last year from October 2 to February 28, barring public holidays, which has been reduced to 80 days this year.
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“The annual budget allocated by for subsidy on khadi has been reduced from ₹4 crore to ₹ 2.80 crore,” added Sharma. “Union government had also imposed 5% GST on khadi earlier this year which was withdrawn after the protests of the khadi organisations across the country. The reworked tax imposed on the fibre is 12%.”
There are around 164 khadi organisations in the state with the annual turnover of ₹125 crore.
Pradesh Congress committee, general secretary, Rajasthan, Pankaj Mehta said, “BJP government does not believe in khadi’s significance and so they are discouraging it through taxation and reduction of rebates.”
Khadi Board of Rajasthan assistant secretary, Faridullah Khan, said, that the Khadi Board (KB) of Rajasthan works as per the policies of the Khadi Village and Industry Commission (KVIC), Mumbai. When KVIC decided to withdraw rebate on Khadi, Rajasthan, too, decided to withdraw rebate and propose State Marketing Development Assistance (SMDA).
“Since approvals for SMDA would have taken time, KB decided to continue with 5% rebate on khadi for the current year. But such rebate will be done away with once SMDA is launched,” said Khan.