Amritsar, June 1: Hailing the Centre’s move to extend financial assistance to offset the payment of goods and services tax (GST) on the purchase of raw material for running langar (free community kitchen), the SGPC on Friday sought reimbursement of Rs 3.20-crore tax already paid to run the Golden Temple kitchen since July 1, 2017.
Roughly, the cost of raw material for langar at the Golden Temple; Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib; and Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda; comes to around Rs 75 crore annually.
Officials said the annual bill of the Golden Temple’s kitchen, which feeds between 55,000 to 60,000 devotees daily, comes to around Rs 45 crore.
SGPC spokesperson Diljit Singh said till date, an amount of Rs 3.2 crore had been paid as the GST. “The financial help to offset the GST is a welcome move, but the Central and state governments should also spare a thought to reimburse the amount that has already been paid on the langar purchase. Ultimately, this amount could be ploughed back for the societal cause only,” he said.
As per official figures, between July 1, 2017, and January 31, 2018, the total amount spent on buying material for langar at the shrine was Rs 20.17 crore. The new GST slab had put an extra burden of Rs 1.9 crore. On “desi ghee” (4,188 quintals), the main ingredient, an amount of Rs 1.5 crore was charged at the rate of 12 per cent. On sugar (6,210 quintals), 5 per cent GST was imposed.
Similarly, tax was paid on several other items as well.
Nonetheless, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal hailed the government decision which has come as a relief for religious places across the nation.
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Badal on Friday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for their decision to grant exemption on goods and services tax (GST) on purchase of raw material for langar in gurdwaras and other religious shrines in the country. “We have no words to thank the bold and magnanimous Prime Minister for this unprecedented step,” the SAD leaders said.
Besides Harsimrat, Sukhbir was accompanied by SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal, DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK, Bikram Singh Majithia, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Naresh Gujral. Sukhbir said Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had “miserably failed” to raise this just and legitimate demand at the meeting of the GST council, which was the final deciding authority, and of which he was a member.
Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has welcomed the Centre’s decision to provide special assistance to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to offset the goods and services tax (GST) paid on langar (free community meal) as a case of “better late than never.”
Though the move fell short of a waiver, it would relieve the SGPC of the tax burden, the Chief Minister said, adding that the move to levy the GST on langar was ill-conceived from the very outset.
The Chief Minister was reacting to the Centre’s decision to provide special financial assistance for Sewa Bhoj Yojana as part of a Rs 350-crore scheme launched for two years. The assistance will be provided to all religious bodies that serve free langar to devotees and needy. Claiming that the Golden Temple had paid over Rs 2 crore in the GST till date, he said he had written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in July last year seeking waiver but the government took nearly a year to take the decision.
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