The central government should withdraw the ‘jaziya tax’ immediately, says Speaker
Chandigarh, August 2: Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on Tuesday condemned the decision of the Union government of imposing the GST on the “serais” (inns) near Shri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar and demanded the immediate rollback of the decision.
In a statement issued from here, Sandhwan said that the doors of ‘Guru Ghar’ are open 24 hours for every section of society and every religion. The ‘Guru da Langar’ (Community kitchen) and the inns of the Guru Ghar are a great help to passers-by and devotees, who visit the holy shrine to pay obeisance from across the globe.
He said that the central government has reminded the Mughals of collecting ‘jaziya tax’ by levying 12 percent GST on sarais near Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. He demanded that the central government should withdraw its decision immediately, while giving a good message to all the society of the country and abroad.
He said that the purpose of these inns is not to earn any profit but these inns provide comfortable accommodation to the pilgrims according to the unique tradition of Sikhism.