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Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 20
With the Centre and the state government paying little heed to the pleas of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for GST exemption on purchases made to run community kitchen in gurdwaras, the apex Sikh body has now pinned its hopes on members of the GST Council.
The gurdwara panel is approaching the Finance Ministers of all states, who are members of the GST Council, to support the cause.
An SGPC member said two-thirds majority of members were required to alter or pass a resolution in the GST Council.
Earlier, the apex Sikh body had approached the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and MPs for immunity from GST.
SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar said that as per law, the GST Council had to take the final call now. “We hope that the Council will review our pleas in its next meeting and withdraw the tax imposed on purchases made for gurdwaras. All religious organisations should be totally exempted from any tax as these were not profit-making entities. The SGPC contributed to religious and social causes like free education to needy and free medical aid to cancer patients besides providing services to devotees who come to pay obeisance at religious shrines,” he said.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had issued a vague clarification that free food as prasadam will not attract any tax under the GST regime, but categorically emphasised that the ingredients and input services required to make prasadam or food for free distribution will be taxed.
Almost 70,000 people have ‘langar’ at the Golden Temple every day. The number increases to 1 lakh on special occasions like Gurpurbs.