The plea by the Telangana government to reduce the GST over textiles fell deaf ears of Central government, now the minister Mr K T Rama Rao mocks at the centre as the same demand came its own party leaders.
In his Twitter message, the minister said the same demand was made by none other than the Gujarat BJP unit president C R Patil and Union minister Darshan Zardosh. They demanded that the Centre reduce the GST on Textile by five per cent from 12 per cent GST on textile industry.
The Centre’s recent decision to increase the GST on handloom textiles by 12 per cent has drawn widespread criticism. Governments in all states also opposed this policy. Leaders of the handloom community prepared to hold dharnas to protest the central government’s stance. Not only the non-BJP party but also those within the party are demanding a reduction in the GST on handlooms. Minister KTR took to Twitter to express his displeasure over the incident.
Mr Rama Rao earlier pointed out that the weaver community was in the lurch owing to the long spell of the Corona period and increased raw material prices. He listed out the initiatives taken up by the Telangana government to save scores of weavers across the state from providing work orders, waiving loans to providing financial assistance.
However, the Central government did pay any heed to the requests. “The Centre should not realise as the same demand is coming from none other their own party ruled Gujarat state and its own cabinet minister,” Mr Rama Rao pointed out.