Better Late Than Never, Says Amarinder Singh On Centre’s Special Assistance Against Langar GST

5 Dariya News

Chandigarh 01-Jun-2018

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has welcomed the central government’s decision to provide special assistance to SGPC against Langar GST as a case of `better late than never.’Though the move fell short of waiver of GST on Langar, it would relieve the SGPC of the GST burden, the Chief Minister said, adding that the move to levy GST on Langar was ill-conceived from the outset. It was not fair to impose the tax on religious institutions which had no independent source of income, and were run and managed through donations.The Chief Minister was reacting to the central government’s decision to provide Special Financial Assistance for Sewa Bhoj Yojana as part of a Rs. 350 crore scheme launched for two years. The assistance will be provided to all religious bodies that serve free Langar to devotees and needy.The Chief Minister described as `criminal’ the fact the Golden Temple had paid over Rs 2 crore in GST on Langar items till date. He recalled that he had written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in July last year seeking waiver of GST on Langar but it took the central government nearly a year to take the decision.Captain Amarinder Singh further recalled that his government had waived off its share of GST on Langar and Prasad in March this year to ease the burden on the Golden Temple as well as two Hindu religious shrines.