CCI may stop payment of taxes to Govt

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, June 17: Chamber of Commerce & Industry Jammu has taken a serious view  regarding non-acceptance of the demands which were submitted during the Pre-budget meeting to the  Finance Minister Dr Haseeb A Drabu.
Talking to media-persons here today the Chamber president Rakesh Gupta said that the Chamber delegation had submitted pre-budget proposal to the Government during meeting with Finance Minister but Dr Drabu  has neither cared to hold talks with the Chamber in this regard nor he has accepted CCI’s  invitation for discussion on the subject. He said the Chamber of Commerce & Industry Jammu feels that the  budget was presented purely keeping Kashmir centric issues in mind and no home work was done considering the statistics and any economic implications and budget was just rushed to complete it as a mere formality and an eyewash for the trade and industry.
The Chamber is convening the urgent meeting of the executive committee in the next week and the prime agenda shall be the financial disobedience that shall include stoppage of  payment of VAT and other related taxes with immediate effect if the Finance Minister does not come on dialogue with the Chamber to resolve these issues. In this respect, any financial loss suffered by the State of J&K shall be the sole responsibility of the Finance Minister and not of the trade and industry.
The Chamber also condemned the non-finalization of the industrial policy. The Chamber was of the view that the industrialists in the State are already suffering in the absence of single window policy. The Chamber  appealed the Government that while adopting the GST regime, special concessions to the industry should continue as has been in the past.
Mr Gupta said that the Chamber being an association of traders and industrialists at no point feels that confrontation should be the right course but the unilateral attitude of the Government has left us with no choice whether they are the issues related to VAT, completion of pending projects in Jammu or AIIMS issue in support of which the Chamber being the part of coordination committee has already called for Jammu provincial bandh on June 19, 20 and 21.
Chamber president lauded the statement of Minister for Health Ch Lal Singh who  today while speaking at a function organized in honour of Maharaja Gulab Singh at Akhnoor  openly said that if AIIMS is not constructed at Jammu first, the same shall not be allowed to be constructed in Kashmir. The Chamber strongly feels that the way in which the Government is working and the State is heading, it shall lead to total chaos and panic and feels that trifurcation of the State is the only remedy left.
Others who  were flanked by the CCI president included  Sham Lal Langer,  Deepak Aggarwal  and  Davinder Choudhary, representative All J&K Transport Association.

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