NEW DELHI : The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched Nation wide a month long Special Drive for maximization of registration of eligible electors with focus on left out eligible young citizens in age group of 18-19 and removal of names of registered dead electors, if any, from electoral rolls. 

During the Special enrolment Drive, which will be completed by 31^st July 2017, special attention would be given on following two activities by election officials in all States –

i.     Receiving Form 6 for enrolment of new electors,

ii.    Removal of names of registered dead electors, if found any.

For Submission of Form 6, following modes will be available:-

Submission of Form 6 at EROs Office (Electoral Registration Officer)

Sending of Form 6 by Post

Online Submission of Form 6 at National Voters’ Service Portal (www.nvsp.in)

In addition to the above, BLO shall visit door to door of the households to collect Form 6 from the applicants, particularly 18-19 age group (extendable to 21 years of age) from 1^st July 2017 and 31^st July 2017 (except the Special Campaign Dates).

Common Service Centres (CSCs) will provide services of making online filling and hard copy Form digitization on payment basis.

Special Campaigns will be organized on two dates in the month of July 2017, which will be duly publicised through media by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State. On these dates, Camps will be held in each polling station where Booth Level Officer will sit with adequate number of Forms 6, to receive Forms from the applicants. On the day of camp, entire final electoral roll, 2017 along with its supplements, if any, shall be pasted on the wall of the polling stations. The roll shall also be read out publicly by the BLO on that date. The left out eligible citizens may fill Forms 6 and give the same to the BLO at the polling station itself, or submit through any other available means during the Special Drive. Special camps will also by conducted in all Government and Private Educational Institutions (Colleges and Schools)/ Vocational Training Institutes on at least any two different days between 1^st July, 2017 and 31^st July, 2017. While the focus is on new re-enrolment through Form 6, receipt of other forms viz. Form 6A, 7, 8 and 8A may continue as usual. 

During the Special Drive, removal of names of dead electors will also be taken up. To identify Electoral Roll entry of registered dead electors, if any, data on registered deaths shall be collected by the District Election Officer (DEO) from the Registrar of Births and Deaths in his jurisdiction and such registered death entries identified, shall be removed after following the procedure. 

BLOs will make door to door visits to complete field verification. Disposal of Forms 6 and Forms 7 (death cases), received during Special Drive will be done within prescribed time of one month. However, Forms 7 (other than death cases), Form 8 and 8A received during the period will be done on conclusion of Special Drive.

This is another book on the shadow cast by partition of India and Pakistan. It is  authored by Ikramullah Chaudhury who prefers being known by his first name. The two novellas are considered as Penguin modern classics. He was born in 1939 in Jandiala, a small village in the Nawan Shahr district of Jalandhar in India. He did his schooling in Amritsar. At the time of partition he was barely ten when his family moved to Multan where he did his BA in 1953 and two years later took a Law degree from the University Law College in Lahore. 

Ikramullah has been writing fiction since 1962 even though he retired from Insurance business in 1995. “Ikramullah Regret” is the English translation  of the novellas written in Urdu. What is baffling is his conspicuous absence from contemporary Urdu critical discourse in his own country. Yet he is considered a major writer in Pakistan today with a substantial body of writing. Ikramullah though not unsociable is an exceptionally private person who seems to be rarely affected by the desire to conform to, or even to marginally satisfy, what the world might expect of him. He writes for himself. He does not care for the opinion of the reader or critic, observes one of the translators Muhammad Umar Menon who is Professor Emeritus of Urdu literature and Islamic studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The popular weekly Friday Times published from Lahore describes Ikramullah’s writings as “a restlessness to express the possibilities of fictional dimensions lies at the root of his versatility.” The first part is “Regret” followed by “Out of Sight.” The first part recreates a childhood amid the trauma of partition. In 1957 two lifelong friends Ehsaan and Saeed reminisce about idyllic symmer days spent bunking school, swimming in the canal and relishing the thrills of first love. 

“Out of Sight” recounts the story of Ismail who narrowly escaped the carnage of 1947 in his youth and despairs the sudden resurgence of sectarian violence in Pakistan. If one has gone around Lahore “Regret” captures the environment and atmosphere realistically. Saeed and Ehsan are inseparable friends in school. Then suddenly Saeed discoverd that his father had decided to pull him out of a Muslim school and enrol him in a Government school at the end of the holidays so that he might be rescued from Ehsan’s company. Saeed was given to wandering by nature and it did not take him long to seek out his own kind at the new school. Some of them were Hindu and Sikh boys. The company of new friends introduced Saeed to new types of vagrancy. They started smoking now and then. In time the incurable addiction of movies got the better of him. Saeed was in a big hurry to grow up because this would make the girls take notice of him. 

Smoking was taken up to parade as grown up. However, Saeed still went to see Ehsan every ten or fifteen days but now the former soon tired of the latter’s company. It seemed Saeed and Ehsan shared nothing in common any more. Ehsan was forced to quit school and take up a job as a salesman with some Muslim shoe seller. He was once again enrolled in the ninth grade in a Muslim school. He spent much of his free time in the neighbourhood reading room. After the slaughter of the Khaksars, no new Muslim movement had emerged. The demand for Pakistan hadn’t picked up momentum yet. At most it was a battle cry whose political value amounted to no more than a vague threat. And in a district with a hundred per cent Muslim population, Ehsan, clad in his pynama-kurta made of coarse homespun cotton, laid out before the masses in great detail with compelling argument that the Congress position of freedom for India opposed the establishment of Pakistan. 

But Quaid-e-Azam Mohmmad Ali Jinnah does not talk about Muslims. Unable to stomach this praise of Jinnah a tonga driver who had perhaps spent some time in the company of Ahrars and Khaksars started telling story after story about how the top leadership of then Muslim League was hopelessly westernised and cherished the English.  Ehsan described in detail the views of the Muslim ulema and the popularity the Congress enjoyed among the Muslims of the North West Frontier Province. The Hindus had embraced India’s freedom as their sole, distinct, clear and definite political objective. Muslims on the other hand didn’t have the foggiest idea what they wanted or who to turn to for leadership. To them every political solution seemed like the proverbial “out of the frying pan into the fire”. Friendship was a meaningless thing. 

The real thing was class. A crow doesn’t become a peacock by sticking a few peacock feathers in its tail. With the end of WWII an electric current passed through India’s political climate. The people felt in their bones that something was going to happen. But what? Even the most astute political leaders were unable to say just what might emerge from the shadows of the future. During the time that the Muslim League became a household word among Muslims and the cry for Pakistan was raised, Ehsan’s father like most Muslims became a staunch suporter of Pakistan. Muslims were agitated that they had nourished the foundations of the Congress with their blood and soon saw through Mahatma Gandhi’s and Nehru’s bigotry and the Hindus relentless and eternal prejudice against Muslims. Indian Muslims have been forced to demand a separate homeland for their own survival. In the two years preceding partition when the idea of Pakistan had become a watchword in just about every household and when every child was yelling out Pakistan Zindabad in a frenzy, critics like Maulvi Karam Din were struck dumb and clammed up fearing for their lives. it was inevitable that the continual incitement to hatred should erupt in the worst kind of riots. Once started the riots continued sporadically until after independence Day on 15 August. The collective resistance of the Muslims had pretty much ended and the entire Muslim population had moved to two neighbourhoods. 

In the second “Out of Sight” the person whose efforts brought about Pakistan into being was a Shia in Mohammad Ali Jinnah but no one objected. People unanimously accepted him as the Quaid-e-Azam. Now the maulvis are calling the Shias infidels and getting them killed. The Ahmadis have already been declared non-Muslims and now it is the turn of the Shias. The Ahmadis continue to get a raw deal in Pakistan. The government is doing nothing to guarantee their safety. Both the law and the Constitution have declared Ahmadis non-Muslims. Consequently the Ahmadis are having to face the daily misery of  “you (Muslims) and us (Ahmadis).”  

Pakistan was created for all those believing in Islam but sectarianism has sprouted in that country. Innocent people are being mercilessly put to death every other day. Sectarian discord began in 1948 in Pakistan when Chaudhary Zafarullah Khan refused to offer Jinnah sahib’s funeral prayer and stood apart from a crowd of a hundred thousand and just watched them perform it. It was futile to argue now who is Muslim and who is not . The Quaid-e-Azam had settled the issue in his address of 11 August 1947 that all citizens of Pakistan would be equal regardless of their differences. Not just the Ahmadis, the Shias, Sikhs, Christians, Parsees, Hindus — everyone except the Sunni majority feels insecure in Pakistani. This state of affairs creates doubts about the survival of Pakistan but the government is doing nothing about it. 

Rural India remains deprived from the benefits of mobile/broadband connectivity. Universal Service Obligation Fund or USOF formed more than a decade ago was tasked to bring rural/remote under mobile/Internet connectivity. But delaying projects, getting them stuck in the quagmire of approvals/evaluations has become a hallmark of USOF.

Currently, USOF is sitting on at least three key telecom infrastructure projects which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to showcase as his government’s success when he goes to the electorate in 2019…

NEW DELHI : Let us begin with a glimpse of how Department of Telecom (DoT) and its organizations are wasting public money and hurting India’s growth and progress, particularly the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)formed over 13 years ago to boost connectivity to rural and remote corners of the country.

Recently, under the Phase-I of ambitious BharatNet project of connecting 2.5-lakh gram panchayats with optical fibre cable (OFC) network it was decided to connect some panchayats with broadband. But government officials were left shocked when they were unable to locate the optical fibre which was laid sometime back.

This is when the USOF-funded BharatNet project is being directly monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and is being implemented by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

Fearing severe backlash from the PMO, USOF Administrator Sanjay Singh shot off a letter to BSNL CMD Anupam Srivastava, expressing concern over the lapses and seeking his intervention in ensuring end-to-end connectivity to all panchayats.

“The progress of end to end connectivity has not been up to the mark, even at locations where end to end connectivity is certified by the implementing CPSUs is being found to be not available,” the letter said.

DoT sources say USOF will now have to provide additional Rs.2000 crore to re-lay around 50,000 km of OFC which is either untraceable or is of poor quality.

The BharatNet project has been a classic case of how funds meant for providing better connectivity in rural, remote areas are being misused. Earlier known as National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN), which was rechristened as BharatNet by the Narendra Modi government, the project has seen many delays and missed several deadlines. As a result, project cost has escalated from initial Rs.20,000 crore to Rs.70,000 crore, a 70% hike. And this figure will only go up keeping in mind the shoddy progress of the project.

From DoT to USOF to BSNL to Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL Â— the special purpose vehicle formed to lay OFCs across India), all agencies have played their part in ensuring that 2.5-lakh gram panchayats does not get better, reliable Internet.

Ironically, from DoT to USOF to BBNL, same telecom officers are holding posts in these organizations. So, these officers create project, allocates funds, evaluates project, sans any accountability.

BharatNet, was cleared by the Union Cabinet in 2011 to connect 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats through OFC by providing 100 Mbps bandwidth for each panchayat with financial support of USOF. The plan was modified under the current government in 2016 to have broadband connectivity to 1 lakh panchayats in first phase by March 2017, which is far from being achieved.

Of the 1,00,076 panchayats under Phase 1, broadband connectivity has been provided in only 22,333 panchayats so far, a success rate of poor 25%. Government sources say, forget December 2018 deadline, PMO should feel lucky if the project is completed even by the end of 2019.

Another important infrastructure project which the PMO wants to get completed without further delay is the mobile connectivity to eight Northeastern states which have remained deprived of poor mobile connectivity due to apathy of private operators who took licenses to serve these states but never put up telecom infrastructure there.

The project was conceived in 2014 and divided into two parts – phase I to be implemented by BSNL and phase II by private operator.

Tender process of phase I, to provide mobile connectivity to 4,118 villages through 2,817 telecom towers, was completed almost four months back but DoT is yet to clear it. Telecom Commission meeting to clear this project has already been postponed once due to unknown reasons.

But government sources say the real reason behind the delay was that the DoT and USOF are in a fix over phase II where the only bidder – Bharti Airtel – has quoted cost 56% higher as compared to phase I.

While phase I was finalised at Rs.2,386 crores against the estimated cost of Rs.1,975 crore (a hike of 20%), for phase-II, comprising 4,177 sites in eight states, the total cost has jumped to Rs.4,396 crore against the estimated cost of Rs.2,817 crore (a hike of 56%). Negotiations are on to convince Bharti Airtel to bring down the prices, hence the delay.

As a result, the project has already lost more than a year since the formal tender process began. MPs from the Northeast are livid over the undue delays and have raised the matter in Parliament, written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha.

MOBILE CONNECTIVITY IN NAXAL-AFFECTED STATES

The only successful implementation of a major project which the USOF can claim is the phase I of providing mobile connectivity in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected states. Though the project was completed in record time by two Indian companies once work order was issued by BSNL, the tender process itself took more than two years to get completed due to lackadaisical attitude of DoT, USOF and BSNL.

Under phase I, 2,199 mobile towers were installed with an expenditure of over Rs.3,500 crore in 10 LWE-affected states. The successful implementation of the project led to boost in security preparedness of forces deployed in rural and remote areas. It also led to bringing rural, tribal people into mainstream and quick implementation of government welfare schemes.

Buoyed by the response, the PMO, the Home Ministry and concerned state governments started pushing for phase II comprising 2,726 towers since last year.

But USOF devised yet another way to delay the project in the name of evaluating the installed mobile network in phase I and completing ignoring success reports by union and state government agencies including security forces.

USOF went a step forward when it sidelined its government agencies like the Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells, the Centre of Development and Telematics, the Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd and the Telecom Centres of Excellence, and instead choose IIT-Mumbai for the project and sanctioned a whopping Rs.61 lakhs for the study.

For over six months now the fate of phase II is hanging in balance even as LWE-affected state governments have been writing to PMO, MHA and DoT to immediately begin work. Agencies that have implemented phase I have conveyed to DoT and USOF to not only give upgraded technology in phase II but also improve phase I without any extra costs, but the DoT and USOF have kept mum.

USOF, THY NAME IS ‘PROJECT KILLER’

USOF’s mission is “enabling rural Indians to achieve their fullest potential and participate productively in the development of the nation by virtue of being effectively connected through a reliable and ubiquitous telecommunications network, access to which is within their reach and within their means.”

But the question which needs to be asked here is – What USOF has achieved in last 14 years?

Telecom revolution began at the turn of the 21st century. But as years passed government realized that rural-urban divide in terms of mobile/broadband connectivity was widening as private operators were more focused on revenue-generating urban areas and ignoring rural areas. So, government decided to levy a charge on operators to collect fund to boost rural telecom penetration. So to achieve this, it created USOF in 2004.

In last 14 years not much has been achieved in rural connectivity as mobile and broadband penetration has remained below par. While urban teledensity has crossed 150, rural teledensity remains at 50. Similarly, while urban Internet subscribers per 100 population stands at 58, rural Internet subscribers per 100 population is just 12.

USOF has so far collected over Rs.85,000 crore, but has spent only Rs.37,000 crore. It is sitting on a kitty of over Rs.48,000 crore, while people living in remote and rural areas are crying for better connectivity.

Administrators after administrators have come and gone, but USOF has failed to live up to expectations of the people. Ironically, USOF has done nothing to cover uncovered villages for past five years except for revising the list of these villages and asking Chief Secretaries of these states to send names of villages. It even ignored recommendations National Census which has clearly mentioned entire list of unconnected villages in its survey. This despite the PMO pushing for improving connectivity to these villages to give push to its various ambitious plans like Digital India.

Every quarter DoT and USOF prepare a nice presentation and forwards it to PMO and various Ministries painting rosy pictures of its plans but doing nothing on the ground. This has been continuing since 2012. And the credit for this shoddy progress goes to current USOF Administrator Sanjay Singh and USOF’s Joint Administrator (Technical) I.S. Shastry who have been delaying these projects. Significantly, both of them recently got promoted for their ‘services’ to the DoT!

Currently, both of these senior most USOF officials — Administrator Sanjay Singh and Joint Administrator (Technical) I.S. Shastry Â— are sitting pretty on at least two major telecom projects – LWE phase II and Northeast telecom project — despite the fact that weeks after week and month after month PMO and Home Ministry have been reminding them of this undue delay and asking them to expedite these projects.

Various telecom industry associations and former bureaucrats have been repeatedly complaining to the PMO and Telecom Minister about their role in delaying (read killing) important projects and also hurting interests of BSNL by favouring private operators, but nothing has changed.

NEW DELHI : Senior advocate K K Venugopal will succeed Mukul Rohatgi as the Attorney General of India. His name has been cleared for appointment following the decision of Mr Rohatgi to step down as the top law officer.

The Law Ministry had recently referred the file relating to the appointment of Venugopal as the Attorney General to the Prime Minister’s Office. 

After the decision is finalised, the President will sign the Warrant of Appointment. 

A noted constitutional expert, Venugopal is the recipient of Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan. He would become a law officer for the second time after being an Additional Solicitor General during the Morarji Desai government during the seventies.

NEW DELHI : The country witnessed the biggest ever tax reforms in the history with the launch of the Goods and Services Tax, GST at a gala event last midnight. The new tax regime replacing more than a dozen state and central levies came into effect the moment President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed the launch button in the Central hall of the Parliament. President Pranab Mukherjee in his speech before the launch said it is a momentous occasion for all in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that the day marks a decisive turning point, in determining the future course of the country. 

He recalled that the Central Hall had been witness to several historic occasions in the past as well, including the first session of the Constituent Assembly, India’s independence, and the adoption of the Constitution. He described GST is an example of Cooperative Federalism. 

He quoted Chanakya to say that hard work can overcome all obstacles and help us accomplish even the most difficult of objectives. He said that just as Sardar Patel had ensured political integration of the country, GST would ensure economic integration. Recalling the famous scientist Albert Einstein who said that income tax is the most difficult thing to understand in the world, he said that GST would ensure one nation, one tax. He said that GST would lead to immense savings of time and cost. Savings of fuel due to elimination of delays at State border crossings will help the environment as well, he added. The Prime Minister said GST would lead to a modern tax administration which is simpler, more transparent, and helps curb corruption. 

He described GST as a “Good and Simple Tax” which would ultimately benefit the people. The Prime Minister also quoted a shloka from the Rig Veda to describe the spirit of common goal, common determination, leading to mutual and shared benefit for the society.

Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Former Prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP Party President Amit Shah and a host of political leaders cutting across party lines and senior ministers and bureaucrats from different states witnessed the formal launch of indirect tax regime. Top Industry leaders, economists and celebrities were also present to witness the launch of landmark GST at the historic Central Hall of Parliament which opened for a midnight ceremony for the first time in two decades.

Even as the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat believes the situation will return to normal in the Valley soon, it has never been as bid as this in the last two decades. 

Nevertheless, he had no doubt whatsoever that people will get to experience normal life soon. “They are our people…we know what is hurting them and how to swab their wounds inflicted by violence,” the General added. At the same time the Valley has sunk to such depths that last Thursday on June 22 during the night of prayers in the holy fasting month of Ramzan, it was brutalisation of the worst kind. 

The victim was Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammad Yusuf Pandith from the security wing of the state police supervising security arrangements at the grand mosque from where the chief cleric Mirwaiz Umer Farooq delivers his sermons. 

The officers and men from his wing do not wear the uniform. What is unfortunate is that soon after being lynched he was being given the tag of being a non-Muslim from the intelligence unit. The gambit of the terrorists was to pass off such barbarism against non-Muslims as acceptable. 

The Kashmiri seems to be badly shaken. The lynching is not only a blot on Kashmiri society that prides itself on human values of following the path of peace and love in keeping with Islamalic scriptures. 

Targeting policemen is a well known strategy but the people joining the lynching of a cop on one of the holiest days of the Islamic calendar is a pointer to how far the dehumanisation of Kashmir has proceeded. It is time that all the conscience keepers of Kashmir, particularly the separatist leaders and clerics among them, stem this rot threatening to tear apart the already overstrained social culture of tolerance. 

“The line between humanity and bestiality has been blurred. The man who was protecting them was lynched,” observed state DGP SP Vaid. J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti regretted what can be more shameful. “J&K police are one of the best in the country. They are brave and showing maximum restraint. The day their patience wanes, I believe things will be difficult,” she cautioned. 

Pandith was killed when he opened fire in self defence. It brings to the fore the intolerance that characterises the scene in Srinagar. Barely a week ago six policemen were butchered by terrorists who ambushed them. 

One fails to understand why the enemies of the state like the Mirwaiz are provided a battery of bodyguards at public expense when the role they play is of traitors. The protection given to them must be withdrawn so that they are left to fend for themselves. 

It is difficult to understand why the central and state governments have been pandering to anti-national elements by offering them all kinds of allurements. By giving them the status of being mass leaders which they are not, the authorities are only lending respectability to the nefarious activities of these men. 

The killers of Pandit must be brought to book. The perceived alienation echoes in villages where mothers mourn and sons find a rebel within for a cause they are not sure about. The Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama axis is turning out to be the new hotspot of home grown militancy. 

The Centre’s security centric approach coupled with its policy of a bullet for a bullet has failed in J&K. This is also on account of the pull of radical Islam from outside adding a new dimension to the protracted problem. 

Lack of leadership in the sensitive border state has compounded matters. The other unthinkable aspect for the Kashmiris is the coalition government of the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP and the BJP overseeing the sensitive border state in a coalition arrangement.  

The imperative need is to restart the dialogue process with all the stakeholders to end the continuing turmoil going out of hand.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator)

Goods and Services Tax (GST), a historic tax reform, will come into effect from tomorrow i.e.1^st July, 2017. GST will completely transform the Indirect Taxation landscape in the country involving both the Central and State levies. 

Why is GST so important?

The biggest tax reform since independence – GST – will pave the way for realization of the goal of One Nation – One Tax – One Market. GST will benefit all the stakeholders namely industry, government and consumer. It will lower the cost of goods and services, give a boost to the economy and make the products and services globally competitive, giving a major boost to ‘Make in India’ initiative. Under the GST regime, exports will be zero-rated in entirety unlike the present system where refund of some of the taxes does not take place due to fragmented nature of indirect taxes between the Centre and the States. GST will make India a common market with common tax rates & procedures and remove economic barriers. GST is largely technology driven and will reduce the human interface to a great extent. GST is expected to improve ease of doing business in India.

In majority of supplies of goods, the tax incidence approved by the GST Council is much lower than the present combined indirect tax rates levied [on account of central excise duty rates / embedded central excise duty rates / service tax post-clearance embedding, VAT rates or weighted average VAT rates, cascading of VAT over excise duty and tax incidence on account of CST, Octroi, Entry Tax, etc.] by the Centre and State(s). 

Journey of GST after the Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016

After the assent of the President on 8^th September, 2016, the 101^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016 came into existence. The GST Council was constituted on 15.9.2016.

Since its formation in September, 2016 the GST Council has held 18 meetings. The Finance Ministers of all the States or their representative along with State and Central govt officials have participated in these extensive meetings and formulated the law and procedure to implement this historic tax reform. It was a mammoth task involving 27000+ man hours of intensive work. More than 200 meetings of the officers of the Centre and States took place in different parts of the country to expedite the implementation of GST.

While framing GST Acts and Rules, enhanced ‘Ease of doing business’ for the taxpayers was a key consideration and accordingly the roles and responsibilities of the States and Central govt have been defined. In a short span of time, the GST council has cleared GST laws, GST Rules, Tax rate structure including Compensation Cess, Classification of goods and services into different rate slabs, exemptions, thresholds, structure for tax administration, etc. All the decisions of Council were taken with consensus. While formulating the Acts and Rules, extensive participatory consultations with trade and industry including other significant stakeholders were undertaken. Feedback was also obtained by posting draft Acts and Rules on the websites and inviting comments from the public.

On 29^th March, 2017, the Finance Minister of India tabled four Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bills for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha namely The Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Bill, 2017, The Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Bill, 2017, The Union Territories Goods and Services Tax (UTGST) Bill, 2017 and the GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017. They were passed by the Lok Sabha on 29^th March, 2017 and by the Rajya Sabha on 6^th April, 2017.

The GST Council has decided the final structure of GST as follows:

· The threshold limit for exemption from levy of GST is Rs. 20 lakh for the States except for the Special Category, where it is Rs 10 Lakh.

· A four slab tax rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% has been adopted for GST.

· A cess would be levied on certain goods such as luxury cars, aerated drinks, pan masala and tobacco products, over and above the GST rate of 28% for payment of compensation to the states.

· The threshold for availing the Composition scheme is Rs. 75 lakh except for special category States where it is Rs. 50 lakh and they are required to file quarterly returns only. Certain categories of manufacturers, service providers (except restaurants) are out of the Composition Scheme.

Other Important Features of GST

· GST envisages all transactions and processes to be done only through electronic mode, to achieve non-intrusive administration.  This will minimise tax payers physical interaction with the tax officials.

· GST provides for the facility of auto-populated monthly returns and annual return.

· It also facilitates the taxpayers by prescribing grant of refund within 60 days, and provisional release of 90% refund to exporters within 7 days. Further facilitation measures include interest payment if refund is not sanctioned in time, and refund to be directly credited to bank accounts.

· Comprehensive transitional provisions for ensuring smooth transition of existing taxpayers to GST regime, credit for available stocks, etc.

·  Other provisions include system of GST Compliance Rating, etc.

·  Anti-profiteering provisions for protection of consumer rights.

Role of GST Network (GSTN) – IT backbone of GST

GSTN has been created as a section 25 private limited company with Strategic Control with the Government, to function as a common Pass-through portal for taxpayers. On this common portal, taxpayers will submit their registration applications, file returns, make tax payments, claim refunds etc. GSTN has been provided with a robust IT platform and it will provide interface to 80 lakh taxpayers and thousands of tax officials. All filings under GST will be done electronically.  While GSTN remains a front-end, at the back end, the IT systems of CBEC and different states interface with the GSTN IT network to provide a seamless end to end processing of tax returns for the taxpayers. 64,000 officials have been trained on the GST portal from February till June 2017. The GSTN IT systems have undergone load tests, performance tests, vulnerability tests, security and all other mandatory tests.

Enrolment of existing taxpayers of the State tax administrations and the Central Board of Excise and Customs to the GST system commenced on 8^thNovember, 2016. More than 66 lakh taxpayers have activated their account at the GST portal.

GST Application on Payment has been operationalized. 25 banks have been integrated with the GST Common portal and will be providing e-payment and Over the counter payment facilities as well as payment through NeFT/RTGS and credit/debit card.

GST OUTREACH PROGRAMME

The Government has stepped up its outreach programme through various events, workshops, media, television to reach masses. Field formations of CBEC, at all levels have been activated to carry out interaction with the trade and industry to help them with the migration to GST and to clear their doubts. The field units of CBEC have run campaigns using mobile vans to reach the assessees at their door-step to help them with the GST migration and transitional issues. A total of 4700 workshops have been conducted across India.

An extensive multi-media campaign through print and electronic media, outdoor hoardings, etc. has been carried out for informing, educating and assisting taxpayers and other stake-holders to enable a smooth transition to GST. 

 RE-ORGANISATION OF CBEC

Implementation of GST has necessitated reorganisation of the Central Board of Excise & Customs formations for administration of GST. The reorganisation involved bringing about structural changes and redeployment of human resources. Redeployment has been done to ensure outreach to the remotest corner. The Directorates which have significant role under the GST have been adequately expanded and strengthened.

The field formations have been restructured as 21 CGST & CX Zones, 107 CGST & CX Commissionerates, 12 Sub-Commissionerates, 768 CGST & CX Divisions, 3969 CGST & CX Ranges, 48 Audit Commissionerates and 49 Appeal Commissionerates.

TRAINING

For a smooth roll out of GST, it was imperative to carry out adequate capacity-building exercise and awareness. National Academy of Customs Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) have conducted extensive training programs. In the first phase, nearly 52,000 officers were trained during September, 2016 to January, 2017 through a multi-layered training programme across India. A Refresher Training was also conducted on updated Law, Rules and Procedures and a total of 17,213 officials were trained till 23rd June, 2017.  Under the Accredited GST Training Programme, 20 institutes have been certified as ‘Approved Training Partners’ to impart ‘quality training at reasonable cost’ to members of trade/industry and other stakeholders. 2,565 participants have been trained so far (ongoing). NACIN have also trained 2,611 officers from 92 Ministries/PSUs trained so far.  

Besides that, training resources such as 500 FAQs on GST have been released in English, Hindi and 10 regional languages. A number of Flyers on different topics of GST explaining the GST concepts, for dissemination to trade & industry, PPTs and Learning Videos for GST training and other training materials for the officials have also been released.

SERVICE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

A twitter seva started by the Government as an initiative to answer queries of the Tax Payers on a real time basis. The twitter handle askGST_GOI attracts thousands of taxpayer queries every day. A list of FAQs based on frequent questions asked on Twitter has been already got published.

New Delhi : Stage is set for the launch of a nationwide goods and services tax, GST, at a function in Central Hall of Parliament at midnight tonight. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the new tax regime replacing more than a dozen state and central levies built up over seven decades, with a one national GST unifying the country’s 2 trillion dollar economy and 1.3 billion people into a common market.

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley further said that now large number of traders have registered themselves and the GST Network and other official machinery is fully ready for smooth roll-out of GST from 1st July, 2017.He said that he is sure that GST will not have any inflationary impact. He asked the representatives of trade and industry to inform, educate and explain to their distributors, retailers and consumers at large about the positive impact of GST especially on the price front. The representatives of trade and industry on the other hand congratulated the Government for their bold initiative by bringing historical Indirect Tax Reform which will help not only consumers but also boost the prospects of growth of Indian economy. They assured the Government that benefit of price reduction would be passed on the consumers. They also put forward their concerns and asked the Government to issue certain clarifications to remove any doubt or confusion among the traders.

Congress party has however decided to boycott the event apparently to protest against hardship being caused to small and medium enterprises and traders. Left, RJD, SP and TMC are also boycotting the event.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made a last minute appeal to the opposition to reconsider their decision saying the landmark indirect tax reform was a result of a joint decision and they cannot run away from it now.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court will hear a petition on July 6 which challenges the eviction of slum dwellers of Rajeev Camp. 
The petitioners — dislocated slum dwellers — claimed that the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Poliy, 2015 was discriminatory as the residents were found to be ineligible on the sole ground that they did not possess Voter ID Cards. 
Robin R. David, appearing on behalf of the Petitioners, submitted that the slum dwellers despite possessing other valid proof of residence in Rajeev Camp prior to the cut-off date of 01.01.2015, were held ineligible for allotment and relocation on the sole ground that they did not possess Voter ID cards. The evicted slum dwellers claimed that on account of the eviction and demolition, they were forced to live in make-shift tents without water, sanitation, medical facilities, electricity and other basic necessities which are endangering their health and especially children’s?.

NEW DELHI : The nominations of all presidential candidates, except those of NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind and Opposition candidate Meira Kumar, were rejected on Thursday after scrutiny. 104 nomination papers were filed for the top constitutional post for which process of filing of nomination began on 14th of this month .

Except the two main contenders, the nominations of the rest were rejected as none of them were proposed and backed by the required number of members of the electoral college.According to the rules, a presidential candidate’s nomination should be signed by at least 50 members of an electoral college as proposers and endorsed by as many.

Elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and all State legislative assemblies are members of the electoral college. This time, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is the returning officer for the presidential election