GST Bill referred to Select Committee

The 21-member panel will give its report by the last day of the first week of the Monsoon Session.

The Constitution amendment bill providing for the roll-out of the long-pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) was Tuesday referred to a Select Committee after the opposition stalled it in Rajya Sabha where the government lacks majority. The 21-member panel will give its report by the last day of the first week of the Monsoon Session. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the motion for referring the Bill (The Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-second Amendment Bill, 2014) to the Select Committee.

The GST bill was approved by Lok Sabha on Wednesday last after a walkout by Congress. Congress floor managers in Rajya Sabha had made it clear to the government that it will not be possible for them to back the bill in the Upper House without referring it to a Select Committee.

YSR Cong, TDP seek special category status for Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi: The issue of giving special category status to Andhra Pradesh found voice in the Lok Sabha Tuesday when it was raised by parties like the YSR Congress and the TDP. They urged the government to grant the status to the state to enable it to rebuild itself. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, M Rajmohan Reddy of YSR Congress said that Congress and BJP had promised to give special category status to Andhra Pradesh after Telangana was carved out of the state. Reddy said only this could help Andhra emerge out of its financial crisis after the bifurcation turned it into the “most backward” state from the “most forward” one. ENS

Source:: Indian Express