-IPA News Service/Newsclick.in Time is ripe to do away with every central Cess on petroleum products and reject the government’s narrative that the poor are hurt less by higher prices than the rich. The country is in the grip of an inflationary spiral resulting in a galloping price rise of all essential goods used by people. This crushing price burden is making life exceedingly difficult for the rural and urban poor. The retail...

-The Hindu Dues equal four months’ compensation, says Finance Ministry The Centre is yet to remit ₹78,704 crore in outstanding Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation dues to States, equivalent to four months of compensation under the indirect tax regime introduced in July 2017, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday, citing ‘inadequate balance in the fund’.   “The pending amount will also be released as and when amount from Cess accrues in the...

-The Hindu Rs. 35,399.40 crore spent from ₹78,521.24 crore collected, Minister tells Lok Sabha in written reply Over half the amount collected in the form of a Cess on construction projects to fund welfare schemes for workers has not been utilised so far, the Labour and Employment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The cess, collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996, is supposed to be used...

-Down to Earth There are prominent shortcomings in implementation, especially registration of workers and and collection and distribution of Cess The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had widespread and devastating consequences to communities and enterprises in India and across the globe. However, the situation was particularly grim for the 453.6 million internal migrants in India, evidenced by the unprecedented ‘reverse migration’ witnessed during the pandemic.  Their vulnerabilities were exacerbated by the fact a...

-The Telegraph Kerala finance minister pitched for extending it beyond June next year as the state was already grappling with a significant revenue shortfall The clamour for compensation to states beyond June 2022 grew louder on Saturday with Kerala finance minister K.N. Balagopal saying the financial situation of the state would be deeply impacted if the assistance is not extended. Balagopal pitched for extending the GST compensation beyond June next year as his...