GST has upgraded India’s ‘world rating’: Dr Jitendra

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh speaking in the Rajya Sabha.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh speaking in the Rajya Sabha.

Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Mar 15: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Goods & Services Tax Act (GST) has upgraded India’s “world rating”. As per Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) Report, India’s local and foreign currency rating got upgraded from Baa3 to Baa2 after a gap of 13 years, and this is in recognition of the major economic as well as institutional reforms undertaken by the Modi Government like GST, sound monitory framework, digitization in economy, demonetization and target delivery of benefits through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system etc.
In reply to a question by the Samajwadi Party (SP) Member of Parliament, Ravi Shankar Sharma, in Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the Modi Government is fully alive and  committed to implement its policy of zero tolerance towards corruption. The Central Govern-ment has already taken several measures to combat corruption and improve the functioning of the government, he stated.
The reply came in response to the question whether an agency called “Transparency International” has placed India at position 81 among 180 countries on the basis of the “Corruption Perception Index 2018”. Dr Jitendra Singh’s reply stated that Transparency International is an agency whose findings are based on “perception” and whose study is not conducted at the behest of any officially recognized mechanism, as a result of which, many countries do not  take serious cognizance of its findings.
If one has to go by the findings of other agencies, then one can also cite the example of the World Bank’s “Doing Business Report” published in October 2017, according to which, India’s rank on ‘Ease of doing Business’ improved significantly to position 100 from position 130 in just one year, out of a total number of 190 countries. This was possible due to sustained structural reforms carried out in the last three to four years. Similarly, Moody’s Report is also an example of another highly respected international endorsement, he added.
In addition to GST, Demonetization and emphasis on “less-cash economy”, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that some of the important measures taken by the government in this direction included establishment of a mechanism of “Jandhan, Aadhaar and Mobile” (JAM), Government e-Market Place (GeM), e-tendering in public procurements and abolition of interview for recruitment to non-gazetted posts.
In service matters, rotation transfer policy for government officials, timely disposal of pending disciplinary proceedings, timely decision in cases related to prosecution sanction of public servants in anti-corruption cases and invocation of FR-56(j) and AIS (DCRB) Rules, 1958 for premature retirement of officials have been put into use more effectively in the last three years. Not only this, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 was also brought into force with effect from 1st November 2016, the reply stated.

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