Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Wednesday, May 07, 2003 |
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
Addressing a press conference here, the Minister criticised that the name of the Industries Minister, P. K. Kunhalikutty, was being unnecessarily dragged into the issue. The Opposition was trying to politicise the issue by isolating a party for criticism. This was a move against the Government. It was also a wrong and dangerous trend and would only disturb communal amity further. Mr. Sankaranarayanan recalled that the Muslim League was a party that had opposed religious fundamentalism. The League leader, Shihab Thangal, had been making open calls for communal amity. He said that the Government had no knowledge of the alleged involvement of a businessman associated with the development of the Beypore port (and belonging to the Muslim League) in the slaughter. He denied that there was an intelligence failure. Incidents like that at Marad and Muthanga and the liquor tragedy could not be considered the result of intelligence failures as a limited number of policemen could not gather information on everything in advance. He said that the Government was firm about dealing with brutal murders like that in Marad with a strong hand. Tomorrow's Cabinet meeting would decide on further course of action. Steps would be taken to curb activities of militants in the State. He parried questions why the police had failed to file chargesheets in respect of earlier incidents at Marad and Pathanamthita till now. Questions about allegations that the Industries Minister was instrumental in the withdrawal of some cases also did not get any direct response from the Minister. Denying allegation that the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, was trying to appease various communities, the Minister said he was trying to appease the people of all hues. Activities such as the distribution of tridents by the VHP was not something that should be stopped through a ban. Those supporting the Union Government should do it own their own. Value Added Tax: The Minister said that the State would be implementing the Value Added Tax (VAT) system only if the Centre fully compensated for the losses. In the absence of a decision at the national level to implement the system now, the sales tax system, governed by the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, would continue. This would necessitate some changes in the Budget proposals for the current year. He said that the postponement of the implementation of VAT had resulted in some revenue losses as the Government had reduced some tax rates. Many were not paying the taxes expecting the new system to come into force. He said that the sales tax target for the current year was Rs. 65,000 crores. Against a target of Rs. 5,600 crores for last year, Rs. 5,400 crores had been collected. This was Rs. 947 crores more than the collection in the previous year. He said that VAT would lead to unification of tax rates across the country. It would also help reduce tax evasion and official harassment of traders. Though its implementation would cause revenue losses on the short term, it would benefit the State in future.
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