The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has welcomed union government’s move to waive off GST (Goods and Services Tax) on langar items and appreciated the efforts made by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in this direction.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said the committee and Akali Dal had made persistent efforts for the waiver of GST on langar items. “The waiver is a result of these efforts,” he said, while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Centre issued directions to this effect after getting the Presidential sanction for the Special Financial Assistance for Sewa Bhoj Yojana on Thursday. Under the scheme, CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) and Centre’s share of IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax) paid on the purchase of specific items by charitable religious institutions for distributing free food to public shall be reimbursed as financial assistance by the government of India.
In a press release issued here, Longowal said the waiver will make the gurdwaras free from this financial burden and the amount, which was paid as GST, will be spent on social welfare. He offered special thanks to SAD leaders, including former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, president Sukhbir Singh Badal and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal for taking up the issue with the authorities concerned.
Pertinently, the Punjab government has already waived off its share of GST on the purchase of langar items.
The SGPC spokesperson, Diljit Singh Bedi, said the SGPC had paid around 3.2 crore as GST on the purchase of items for the Golden Temple langar, the largest community kitchen in the world. “The move is praiseworthy but now the government should also decide to return the amount it has charged so far,” Longowal added.
Prasanta Patnaik