Politicising GST Council decisions an insult to federal body: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: The GST Council is a federal body in which every finance minister from every state deliberates and we should not politicise it as it amounts to an insult to the Council, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to a supplementary during the Question Hour by NCP leader Vandana Chavan for asking why non-BJP states have higher GST compensation dues, the finance minister said the dues are paid as per a formula jointly worked out by the Council and no individual has the right to tweak that formulation. Sitharaman said the Council is a body which decides on how this works out and disbursements happen.

"There is a formula which has been in place since the time the GST has been implemented. Even the way in which the back-to-back loan is being taken and distributed by the Centre but through the public account, is also something which the GST Council has deliberated in three council meetings," she said.

It is well to point out that Maharashtra has a very big amount due, but other columns say that the share of Maharashtra in distribution without any discretion has been fairly higher as compared to other states, the finance minister told the House. "I humbly submit and appeal through you that for a body like GST council in which every Finance Minister from every state sits in and takes a call, it's a collective decision of the GST Council. I appeal through you that we don't need to politicise this. No individual has the right to tweak the formulation.

"Therefore, there is no differentiation made on the basis of this party or that party. It's an insult to the GST Council, which is a federal body in which every state has its own finance minister sitting and deliberating," Sitharaman said. "So, I would humbly appeal through you that we do not politicise this distribution," she said, adding that arrears are given to states and there is no differentiation and is done as per formula given.