Lok Sabha witnesses noisy scene over introduction of tax bill
The bill seeks to replace the Taxation and other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020, promulgated in March.
While tabling The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020, Sitharaman said she had a feeling that those who spoke against the introduction of the legislation "definitely" misunderstood its contents.
She said the bill is related to tax returns filing and tax payments and that is only the intention of the government as tax filing is the Centre's domain.
"It is only about tax payment, tax return and filing," she said.
Referring to the GST shares of the states, Sitharaman said the central government would definitely pay the state governments' share.
"We are not taking away the powers of the states. We are not running away from our responsibilities. We never said that we will not pay the states' share. We will definitely pay the states' share of the GST," she said.
The finance minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a successful chief minister and knows about states' problems and their requirements.
Sitharaman claimed that the opposition was trying to "distort" the facts on the government's intention. She dismissed the opposition's claim that the central government was violating the GST Council or bypassing it.
"We are not violating the GST Council or CGST Act," she asserted.
The finance minister also said the Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme 2020 is not an amnesty scheme as it does not give benefits to the tax evaders.
"It is only related to dispute resolution. It is not proper to term it as amnesty scheme," she said.
She then asked her junior colleague Anurag Thakur to speak about the PM Cares Fund, set up recently by the central government keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected.
The public charitable trust's name is 'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund)'.
Thakur accused the opposition of finding faults in every issues.
The union minister of state for finance said the opposition had said EVM was bad, triple talaq was bad, GST was bad and always saw bad in good initiatives of the government.
"What is wrong with the PM Cares Fund? Several times you went to the courts (against the PM Cares Fund). But courts did not support you and favoured the PM Care Fund. When the prime minister was fighting the coronavirus pandemic, some people went to court against the fund. Even the poorest of the poor have contributed to the PM Cares Fund. But the opposition keep asking questions. Even children, old, retired teachers have contributed to the PM Cares Fund," he said.
Referring to the PM National Relief Fund, Thakur said the trust was set up during the tenure of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and was not even registered as a public trust. But it got all relevant clearance, including FCRA, he said.
"The PM Cares Fund is a constitutionally set up public charitable trust. PM National Relief Fund was set up only for the benefits of one family -- Nehru-Gandhi family," he said.
With this, the Congress strongly protested Thakur's remarks, leading to Speaker Om Birla adjourning the house for 30 minutes.
Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, TMC's Saugata Roy and CPI-M's AM Arif opposed the introduction of bill.
Tharoor questioned why the PM Cares Fund has been exempted from the audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and said the contribution to the fund from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was wrong.
Roy said it was a new concept for gathering funds by the PM's office and demanded that the PM Cares Fund should be abolished and money received by it should be transferred to the PM National Relief Fund.
The House assembled again only to be adjourned till 5 pm and again till 5.30 pm.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
