Modi govt plans GST drive ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls
Sources told this newspaper that the government decided to deploy MPs and MLAs to tour the nation.
New Delhi: Ahead of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout on July 1, the Narendra Modi government plans to launch an awarness campaign on the benefits of the new system, particularly in rural India. Elected representatives from the BJP will be roped in for this purpose.
The move comes at a time when the BJP has already started preparing for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, where the successful implementation of the GST is likely to be highlighted as a major policy initiative of the Central government.
Sources told this newspaper that the government decided to deploy MPs and MLAs to tour the nation, especially rural areas, and spread awareness about the benefits of the new tax regime. There is also a plan for a massive contact programme to explain the technicalities to the masses through the media.
“Through this awareness campaign the Narendra Modi government hopes to drive home the point that while the earlier UPA regime was unable to implement the GST, the BJP-led dispensation has been able to evolve a consensus on the issue and bring the nation under a single taxation regime,” sources added.
MPs and MLAs from the party have been participating in orientation sessions and workshops by taxation experts, who are clearing their doubts regarding the newly passed law as well as simplifying the complexities for them, sources added.
These elected representatives have been mandated with reaching out to the villages through the local panchayats to dispel any doubts regarding the GST within the common populace, sources added.
It is learnt that publicity units of the government will also be deployed to generate awareness about GST, while in urban towns and cities, hoardings, banners and even audio visual campaigns will be unleashed to simplify its terminology.
Sources said that it is imperative to sensitise people, especially in villages and small towns about the advantages of having a single taxation system.
Also all the technical vocabulary and jargons related to GST need to be simplified for the common man’s understanding, they added. Sources privy to details said that press conferences will be held throughout the country to convey the benefits of GST through the media.