#dnaEdit: Much-needed GST

It is generally the case that governments have to do stuff that will not fetch instant political advantages, but these are things which need to be done. Secondly, some of these issues take such a long time to be implemented that no party can claim credit for them. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduced by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha on Friday is one such thing. The minister was right in saying that it is the most significant tax reform since 1947. It has taken nearly a decade for it to be brought to the legislative stage. The idea was first mooted by P Chidambaram in his first tenure as finance minister in 2006; the bill was brought in and referred to the parliamentary standing committee in 2011. But it could not be pushed further because the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) did not have a majority in the Lok Sabha, and there was fierce resistance from state governments. The empowered committee of state finance ministers was formed to thrash out the problems. 

The baton has come to Jaitley and he is fortunate that his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), enjoys brute majority in the Lok Sabha. It is also the case that most of the states have accepted GST as a workable proposition. Jaitley, aware of the complexities, has not claimed authorship either of the idea or of the legislation. He merely argued the general case that GST will be beneficial to the Centre and states  as well as to the consumers. If BJP and Jaitley were to claim credit for bringing in GST, they would be justified in doing so. The UPA took credit for bringing in the Right To Information (RTI) Act which was on the anvil during the preceding BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Such expressions of political vanity are to be forgiven. The irony remains that in a democracy, what attracts popular attention is not the constructive legislation that parties and governments do. That is why, parties look for those populist measures which will get them brownie points in elections. The UPA was keen on the national rural employment guarantee scheme, now known as NREGA, and it was indeed one of the factors for its victory in the 2009 election. 

It is quite unlikely that the BJP will benefit from the GST in an election because it is a complicated process and people will experience the benefits much later. It cannot be used as a political trophy, though ideally it should be. It should of a matter of interest to political scientists and theorists as to how political parties manage to achieve something good and positive in the din of electoral battles. Here is a rare consensus among politicians across the spectrum about doing the right thing. This should dispel the general view that politicians are a vile and cynical lot, who want to come to power by hook or crook and that nothing else matters to them. 

It is likely that during its implementation, GST, which will be done through the proposed Goods and Services Tax Council, will face hurdles which are partly political in nature. It will bring to the fore the conflict between the Centre and states, and it will also underscore political differences with various parties ruling the states.  That is part of the democratic process. What is important is that there is some good that comes out of the dissension.