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Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Tuesday that if the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre, they will exclude agricultural equipment from the GST ambit.
Addressing a press conference here today, Kharge targeted PM Modi-led BJP government at the centre and said that when farmers tried to enter Delhi to put forward their demands, tear gas shells were fired at them. "Punjab and Haryana, despite having less land geographically, produce the most in the entire country. The country gets food from these two states. The farmers here think that their prices should be good and fair according to the MSP. Farmers agitated (2020-21) and put forward their demands before the BJP government. But still, the government did not agree. Tear gas shells were fired at them. The farmer remained sitting on the streets for the whole year," Kharge said. "We will give legal guarantee to MSP which is one of our five Nyay (Justice)," he added. The Congress President also mentioned that their government will also provide 10 kg of free grains to the people. "Along with five Nyay, our party has also given 25 guarantees. We will give 10 kg grains free to the people. We will work to pay the crop insurance compensation amount within 30 days. We will exclude the agricultural materials from the GST ambit," he said. Various agricultural equipment currently attracts GST at 5-12 per cent. Further, Kharge pointed out the drug problem in the state and termed it as the biggest challenge for the future of Punjab. "Today there is frustration among the youth of Punjab because the drug addiction here has become the biggest challenge for the future of the state. It is because of this, that law and order in the state is getting worse day by day. Farmers are selling their land and sending their children abroad due to the fear that they may fall into drug addiction because employment opportunities are not available here," the Congress President said. "Demonetisation and wrong GST have caused great harm to the MSMEs of Punjab. If our government comes, we will make it very simple and whatever steps are required to run small-scale industries, we will implement them," he added. (ANI)
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