* Waive off GST on Corona related items
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 16: Former minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla today said that since August 5, 2019, the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir is debarred from 4G internet facility which has affected the internet users in general and researchers/students in particular.
While interacting with people at Govindpura in Gandhi Nagar today, Bhalla alleged that Govt has failed to understand to what extent the ban on internet facility has harmed the student’s learning ” In the region, every person is not a regular student of educational institutions and every educational institution does not provide internet facility, within internet providing educational institution some may get the facility and other may not. Despite of popular sloganeering of digital India of the PM of India the Government put blockade on internet to hamper the significant empirical research outcomes for students, researchers and teachers.
The unavailability of facility in Jammu and Kashmir also prevents the students from using their portable devices to exchange education-related messages and academic files with classmates, search the internet and library databases for academic materials, practice online quizzes or tests and hold discussions with classmates. Continuing with this restriction, the students are unable to consult the scholarly articles and research papers to prepare for their exams and assignments. The effect doesn’t end here but also has hampered scholar’s participation into the day to day academic seminars and conferences as he or she cannot get the notification related to these events.
Bhalla further said that BJP Govt has failed to understand how to deal with the perceived security threats to local representatives, including Panchs and Sarpanchs who were touted to enforce various welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi Govt. The UT Administration and the police force have come under increased pressure after the killing of a local BJP leader in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, just a month after a Congress Sarpanch was shot dead, he added.
Amid the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, Bhalla urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive off Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Medical equipment/ items frequently used in the coronavirus crisis. He said that due to the rise in the economic crisis caused due to the coronavirus lockdown, the common man is worried and the waiving of the GST will help reduce the burden. After the introduction of GST on pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in India are taxed at four separate rates of Nil, 5%, 12%, and 18%.
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