Tamil Nadu Min Palanivel Thiagarajan refuses to apologize, slams Goa's BJP govt for 'lies'

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Paldanivel Thiagarajan refused to apologise to Goans as per the demand of Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho over the former's alleged remarks during the 43rd Goods and Services Tax council meeting. Goa Minister Mauvin Godinho had accused the Tamil Nadu Minister of asking him to 'shut up' after casting his vote during the meeting and claimed that Palanivel Thiagarajan had insulted Goa by calling it a small state & hence should have a small vote. Responding to the Goa Minister's demand, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan called the former's allegations 'baseless lies' and claimed that there was no agenda item against Goa's intention to levy any cess & hence he could not have voted at all. 

Tamil Nadu FM PTR refuses to apologise, slams Goa's BJP govt

Elaborating on his party's 'long-standing position', the DMK leader said that they believed that the One state - One vote model of the GST Council was fundamentally unfair. Explaining his argument, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said that his party's view was consistent with the Democratic Principle of Proportional Representation using which seats were allocated for panchayats, city councils, State Legislatures & both the Houses of the Parliament. Secondly, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said that the DMK-led Tamil Nadu govt had always believed in the Local Self Governance model and that they backed a truly Federal Governance model that devolves power from the Centre to the lowest levels. 

Slamming the Goa Minister, Tamil Nadu's Finance Minister PTR claimed that the former was vociferously against lowering GST from 5% to 0% on COVID-related drugs and vaccines on humanitarian grounds. Further, Palanivel Thiagarajan said that they found  Mauvin Godinho's remarks during the GST Council meeting to be repetitive, largely vacuous, hectoring, supercilious and devoid and accused him of speaking for the length of the time than any other state Ministers. Taking a dig at the BJP-led Goa govt, the Tamil Nadu Minister offered his condolences to Goans for 'having such a person as a Minister' and charged Goa CM Pramod Sawant of perpetrating misdemeanour among the state's citizens by choosing Mauvin Godinho to represent the state at the meeting. 

GST Council leaves tax rate on COVID vaccines

The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man. Briefing reporters after the 43rd meeting of the GST Council, the Finance Minister said a ministerial panel will be constituted to decide on the rates on the vaccines and medical supplies. Currently, 5 per cent GST is levied on domestically manufactured vaccines, while it is 12 per cent for COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators.

The Council also decided that import of COVID-related goods such as medical oxygen and vaccines will be exempted from GST till August 31, even if they are imported on payment basis or free of cost for donating to the government or a state-approved agency. The Council also decided that the Centre will borrow Rs 1.58 lakh crore and pass it on to the states as back-to-back loans to make up for the shortfall in their revenues from the implementation of the GST. To provide relief to taxpayers, late fee for non-furnishing of GSTR-3B for July 2017 to April 2021 has been capped at Rs 500 per return for those taxpayers who did not have any tax liability.