New Delhi: The Congress claimed on Tuesday that the BJP government had imposed an 18 per cent GST on ‘Gangajal’ – the water of the holy Ganga river – but reversed the decision in the face of a strong protest by it.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate alleged that the BJP which claims itself to be the custodian of Hinduism did not think twice before imposing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on ‘Gangajal’, used in puja and other Hindu ceremonies.
However, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had clarified last week that there was no GST on ‘Gangajal’.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi, situated on the banks of the Ganga river, Shrinate said, “The one who was supposedly called by the Mother Ganga did not even spare the Mother Ganga.”
When the Congress came to know about the imposition of GST on ‘Gangajal’, “we opposed it in every way ?and once again ?forced the Modi government to withdraw this wrong decision,” she said.
“Those who considered themselves ‘thekedar’ (proclaimed custodians) of Hindu Dharma were imposing tax on Gangajal,” she alleged.
She showed a purported letter of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs which did not include Gangajal as an item which is exempt from GST but listed 10 such items including rudraksha mala, yagnopavit, vibhuti, roli, chandan tika and wooden khadau on which there was no tax.
She also claimed that the Department of Post of the Ministry of Communications had stated in a post on X in August that an 18 per cent GST would be levied on ‘Gangajal’ and a bottle of 250 ml of ‘Gangajal’ which earlier cost Rs 30 would be charged Rs 35 thereafter.
Another order withdrawing the earlier order and clarifying that no GST would be imposed on ‘Gangajal’ was issued by the Department of Post on October 12, she claimed.
“When we exposed them with documents, they removed the tax. In this holy festival of Navratri, when devotees will worship with ‘Gangajal’ without GST, Congress will get their blessings. It is also sad that the lies which the media should have exposed, we are doing so and will continue to expose the real face of the government. The Modi government had said that there is no GST on puja material, but this is completely false,” she said.
Shrinate said the Modi government had launched ‘Aapke Dwar Gangajal Scheme’ in 2016. Its objective was to provide ‘Gangajal’ to people as well as to increase the income of the postal department, she said.
On Thursday, the CBIC stated in a post on X, “Gangajal is used in pooja by households across the country and puja samagri is exempt under GST… All these items have been exempt since the introduction of GST.”
The CBIC said that GST on ‘puja samagri’ was discussed in detail in the 14th and 15th meetings of the GST Council held on May 18-19, 2017 and June 3, 2017, respectively and it was decided to keep them in exempt list.
The CBIC clarification came after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on X said that the government had imposed an 18 per cent GST on ‘Gangajal’, terming it the “height of loot and hypocrisy”.
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