New Delhi: There is a view emerging in the RSS that government needs to urgently provide support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hit by snags in the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“Although these should be seen as teething problems in the execution of a bold policy initiative, some succour could soon be coming the way of the SMEs,” a senior RSS leader told News18.
It is expected that some remedial measures in this regard will be announced when the GST Council meets in the first week of October just after the Dussehra break.
At the coordination committee meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliates at Vrindavan earlier this month, Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB) — which operates amongst SMEs — had drawn the attention on the problems being faced by small traders in filing GST returns.
The Vrindavan conclave was attended among others by BJP President Amit Shah where other affiliates like Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh also expressed their concern on the turn of events on economic front.
LUB had also raised concerns post banning of high denomination currency notes by the government late last year. While the SMEs were able to tide over midnight demonetisation announcement over a period of time, glitches in GST have persisted, blocking a chunk of the working capital of these traders.
The urgency of the matter is compounded by the electoral compulsions, especially in poll-bound Gujarat. The small and medium traders in the one of the most urbanised state in India has been the bedrock of BJP’s core constituency and there is a view that their issues need to be addressed before poll dates are announced anytime next month.
The recent spurt of criticism within the BJP — from Yashwant Sinha to Subramanian Swamy — has also nudged the RSS and the BJP to sit up and take notice. Middle class and trading communities have been at the core of the Sangh’s support base. Although in the three years BJP has attempted to reach out and make inroads amongst other socially weaker sections of society, there is also a realization that concerns of the traditional vote base need to be addressed with earnest.
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