Kerala, Bengal oppose unapproved changes

Finance ministers of West Bengal and Kerala have objected to an amendment in the GST Bill, which was “not approved” by the empowered committee looking into the legislation.

 In their letters to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra and his Kerala counterpart T M Thomas Isaac raised the issue of depriving the states of the share of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) revenue.

 Hours after the changes to the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014, became public, they wrote that this was neither discussed nor decided in the empowered committee of finance ministers. While Mitra, who belongs to the Trinamool Congress, sent his letter on Wednesday, Isaac, who represents CPM sent the letter on Thursday. Though the contents of the letters were not mentioned, CPM MP Sitaram Yechury raised the matter during discussions on the bill.

 In his letter, Isaac said: “I note with great concern that the bill departs from the consensus arrived at the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, much to the detriment of the interest for the states.”

 According to Isaac, the changes suggested in Article 270 of the Constitution by the government were not discussed in the last meeting of empowered committee.