GST a failure, left us jobless, say handloom workers

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As the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out completed one year today, handloom workers from Gorakhpur on Sunday shared problems they have been facing since the implementation of the indirect tax. Calling the GST a 'failure', the workers said that the situation had worsened to such an extent that many people in the handloom industry lost their jobs and several were forced to sell their looms and open tea shops and other small distances.

"I was working in handloom, after GST our machines sold. We became jobless. I did not have any option, had to run a family, I now run a poultry shop," Nabi Ahmed, a handloom worker said. They also claimed that contrary to what the Central Government had ensured, their businesses have hit an all-time low post the implementation of GST and it has become increasingly difficult to sell their products.

Some even claimed that if the Central Government does not take immediate steps to resolve the situation, they would take it to the streets. Another handloom worker, Imtiaz Ahmed said, "I used to run a handloom factory, I used to have my own machines. But after the implementation of GST, we faced a huge problem, I did not understand what was going on, after three months I sold my machines and the opened a tea shop. GST has a caused huge problem."

In a major initiative to ease the tax system of the country, the Centre launched the GST on July 1 last year to bring in a regulated tax system in the country. Launched on the midnight on June 30 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then President Pranab Mukherjee, the taxation scheme aimed at bringing all taxes into a single window along the lines of the 'One Nation - One Tax - One Market' goal.

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