With only three days left for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout elsewhere in the country, the Jammu and Kashmir government is halfheartedly mulling the option of joining the mainstream by promulgating an ordinance to implement the new tax regime in the state.

The mountainous Jammu and Kashmir is a consumer state and depends entirely on import of almost all consumables and rations from other states. It will get isolated in trade and also cause problems for consumers if the government chooses to remain out of the GST.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti appears perplexed on the issue of implementation of GST as the opposition parties have succeeded in creating an atmosphere against her by propagating that the ruling PDP-BJP coalition was out to erode autonomy of the state by implementing the GST.

Mehbooba met Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar last week when she is learnt to have discussed the pros and cons of taking the ordinance route to implement the GST as the opposition has refused to support the Bill for its implementation and also the constitutional amendment.

The GST has become a major political issue particularly in the Kashmir valley where the National Conference (NC), Congress, CPM and various independents in the legislature have joined hands to resist implementation of the GST which they allege was another attempt to erode the special status of J&K and also dilute its financial autonomy. The Congress supports the GST elsewhere in the country but was opposing tooth and nail its implementation in J&K.

Mehbooba is already finding it difficult to tackle the heightened bout of radicalisation and terrorism in Kashmir and implementation of GST at this point of time has come as yet another challenge for her. With the tough stand of opposition parties against the GST, she is left with no option but to implement it through an ordinance or let the people suffer. However, the opposition parties are waiting for this to happen so that they could put her PDP on the mat.

BJP, which is the coalition partner of PDP, is pressurising Mehbooba to take the ordinance route to join the GST regime on 1 July failing which Jammu and Kashmir will remain isolated. On the other hand, the all parties committee to suggest implementation of GST has yet to meet and the PDP does not appear in a hurry to rush through the process.   

A section of traders in Kashmir has raised the banner against implementation of the GST so as to maintain separate identity of J&K but they have not spelled out any formula to keep pace with rest of the country.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who during a meeting of the GST council in Srinagar in May, had said it was for the state to decide implementation of GST, yesterday wrote a letter to Mehbooba, urging her to get the GST introduced from 1 July along with rest of the country. He said it would be a loss to the people of J&K if the state doesn’t pass the GST.

Jaitley said, “J&K would benefit from the law because it is a consuming state and not a producing state. The GST is a consumption-based tax.” “If anybody says GST should not be there in my state, then he is effectively saying consumers in my state should buy expensive products,” he said.

Chief spokesman of the state BJP, Sunil Sethi, on Tuesday urged the J&K government to take immediate steps to implement the GST. “The state government should not stand on prestige on the issue that was beneficial for consumers,” he said.