Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
Protesting against the decision to impose 5% GST on all types of non-branded food items including pulses and food grains from July 18, daal mills, traders and mandi merchants have decided to observe bandh on Saturday.
The bandh is being observed all over the country.
Suresh Agrawal, president of All India Daal Mills Association, informed here on Tuesday that GST Council in its 47th meeting held in the last week of June decided to impose 5% GST on all non-branded food items from July 18. The decision of the GST Council will destroy the micro, small and medium industries of the country engaged in food grains.
“Prior to the implementation of GST on 1 July 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had repeatedly said that GST will not be levied on essential commodities and all types of pulses and food grains, and this is on record,” said Agrawal.
The GST Council’s decision will adversely affect over 150 daal mills in the city, (about 800 in the State and more than 8,000 units across the country,) 7,300 mandies, 9,600 rice mills, 8,000 flour mills, about 30 lakh small mills and around 3 crore retailers of the country.
The central government repeatedly says that inflation will be reduced in any case, but due to the imposition of 5% GST, the prices of pulses will increase. Agrawal sail that All India Daal Mill Association supports the protest call of Indian Chamber of Trade and Industry against GST. He said that therefore, we have requested all the pulse millers of the country to cooperate by keeping their entire business closed on Saturday.
