Continue GST benefit chain, says PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday emphasised the need to continue the “benefit chain” under GST and said that the new tax regime had been “accepted and overwhelmingly supported across the country”.

The Prime Minister said this during a meeting with BJP MPs from Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. Mr Modi also asked small businesses and traders to register under the recently rolled out goods and services tax, as the members of Parliament maintained that there was a lot of enthusiasm among small commercial ventures regarding the new law. Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar was also present during the meeting.

“GST has been accepted and overwhelmingly supported across the country. Small traders should also register themselves with this new tax law. It should be ensured that the benefit chain of GST be continued,” an official statement quoted Mr Modi as saying.

The Prime Minister asked the MPs to ensure that senior citizens got maximum benefit under various welfare schemes, including a new pension scheme, “Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana” (PMVVY), under which they will get 8 per interest on deposits.

He also talked about the development of hill regions, saying that the government had implemented various new schemes which had resulted in qualitative changes in the life of the people in the hills and as a result, tremendous opportunities for jobs and tourism had opened up in the hill states.

On closure of the public distribution system in Chandigarh and Puducherry, Mr Modi said money was being directly transferred into the beneficiaries’ accounts now. This model, he added, could be adopted in other states, as well.

This was Mr Modi’s sixth meeting with BJP MPs at his residence during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.