Harsimrat Kaur Badal wants FM to spare ‘langar sewa’ under GST

Highlighting that Gurdwaras should not be burdened by GST, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal called upon Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to exempt all purchases made by SGPC for ‘langar-sewa’ from the GST Act.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), which is the apex body of the Sikhs, manages all the gurdwaras and the community kitchens which are run by donations received from devotees. Sri Harmandar Sahab (the Golden Temple) at Amritsar runs one of the world’s largest mega kitchen offering free meals throughout the year to lakhs of people.

“The SGPC spends around Rs 75 crore to purchase desi ghee, sugar and pulses. Now it will have to bear a financial burden of Rs 10 crore on these purchases as they come under the 5-18% GST bracket,” said Badal.  She said the former SAD-led Punjab government had exempted all items purchased for langar (community lunch) by SGPC at various gurdwaras.