The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to reconsider the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on plastic waste and the bidi industry. According to the SJM, the high GST on bidis and plastic will adversely affect employment in these sectors.
The SJM has requested that the GST rate for the plastic waste and bidi industry be kept within the 5 percent bracket. In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman before the GST Council meeting, the SJM stated that reducing the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate of 18 percent on plastic waste and 28 percent on bidi production would protect employment in both sectors.
The platform further stated that reducing GST rates in these two sectors would also help in reducing environmental pollution under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. SJM National Co-Convener Ashwini Mahajan, in the letter to Finance Minister Sitharaman, said that imposing the highest GST of 28 percent on bidi production has dealt a blow to employment in this sector. He said that this is causing more difficulties for the workers working in unregistered bidi production units, and they are deprived of many social security or welfare benefits of the central and state governments.
Demanding a reduction in GST rates on plastic waste, Mahajan said that a tax of 18 percent is currently levied on this sector, due to which waste pickers get less remuneration for their work. The SJM letter states that bidis are a major source of employment for women in more than 9 states of India.
The SJM says that when an important meeting of the GST Council is going to be held in Delhi, where two GST rates of 5% and 18% will be made, in such a situation, the Finance Minister is requested that the bidi industry be kept in the 5% category so that cottage industries can be saved from its ill effects. This is because this industry provides employment in large numbers to bidi makers, tendu leaf collectors, and workers engaged in distribution and retail trade.
Demanding similar relief for the industries related to plastic waste, the SJM has told the Finance Minister that in the country, lakhs of waste pickers are engaged in collecting plastic waste from different sources and then separating it and recycling it. This not only supports the poor families of the society, but also plays a big role in making India clean. The SJM says that in terms of income, consumption and standard of living, these waste pickers come from the lowest strata of our society.
In his letter, Swadeshi Jagran Manch National Co-Convener Ashwini Mahajan said that earlier, 5% GST was levied on plastic waste, which was later increased to 18%. This is likely to reduce the incentive for these poor workers to pick up waste. This is also having an adverse impact on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ objective. The two-day meeting of the GST Council will begin on Wednesday. The meeting, which will be chaired by Sitharaman, will be attended by ministers from all states.