GST celebration of honesty, victory of integrity: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that information technology has replaced the ‘Inspector Raj’ under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), as he termed the first year of the indirect tax regime as a “victory of integrity, celebration of honesty and a symbol of cooperative federalism”.
In the 45th edition of his monthly radio address ‘Mann ki Baat’, he credited states with “successful” implementation of the ‘One nation, one tax’ reform, saying people of different ideologies have taken part in its 27 meetings but its decisions have been unanimous.
In his address, Modi took a veiled dig at the opposition while referring to his “greatest satisfaction” at seeing people transform their lives through the video bridge programmes in which he interacted with beneficiaries of government schemes.
“There are certain people in society, who find no solace till they do not express their frustrated views, their depressed views and seek ways to divide rather than unite. In such an environment, when the common man comes to you talking about
emerging hope, new zeal and events that have taken place in his life, it is not to the government’s credit,” he said.
Modi also credited Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee with laying a strong foundation for country’s industrial development in his capacity as Independent India’s first Industry Minister.
The Prime Minister also invoked Sant Kabir and Guru Nanak to derive home the message of social harmony and brotherhood.
Recalling the sacrifice made by freedom fighters at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919, he said: “We must also remember the everlasting message that this incident has imparted, that is, violence and cruelty can never solve any problem. It is peace and nonviolence, renunciation and martyrdom that are triumphant in the end!”
On GST, Modi said that although it was estimated that in a country as vast as India, it would take five to seven years for the “world’s biggest tax reform” to get streamlined but it has stabilised in just a year, and under it Information Technology had replaced ‘Inspector Raj’ as everything from return-to-refund was being done online with little manual interference.
Although it was estimated that in a country as vast as India, it would take five to seven years for the “world’s biggest tax reform” to get streamlined but it has stabilised in just a year PM MODI in ‘Mann ki Baat’