With industry still uncertain about many aspects of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Chief Secretaries to rope in district administration to help small traders.

“The Prime Minister urged the Chief Secretaries to use the district administration, so that small traders are facilitated to access and adopt the new system (GST),” said an official release after the 22nd PRAGATI meeting on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister said traders across the country are positive and are accepting GST but need hand-holding to resolve their problems.

He also stressed that small businesses must register with the GST Network, to take advantage of business opportunities. “The common man and the trader must benefit from this path-breaking decision,” he said.

The Prime Minister had also raised the issue at the Rajaswa Gyan Sangam earlier this month.

Since then, the Central Board of Excise and Customs is also working on a strategy to bring exempt businesses with an annual turnover of less than ₹20 lakh under GST through a simpler compliance mechanism and more awareness.

Nearly one crore businesses have now registered for GST as against the initial target of about 70 lakh to 80 lakh assessees.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also called for sustained efforts to boost digital payments and work towards a less cash society.

He also asked Rajiv Kumar, Secretary, Financial Services, to explore ways to increase the use of RuPay debit cards that have been issued to Jan Dhan account holders.

According to official data, of the 30.26 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, 22.81 crore have been given RuPay debit cards.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to the banking sector.

He also reviewed the progress of nine infrastructure projects in the railway, road, power, coal and gas pipeline sectors, spread over several States including Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Delhi. The India Myanmar Friendship Bridge was also reviewed.

“These projects are cumulatively worth over ₹ 37000 crore,” said the release.

With just 10 States showing interest in the Government e-Marketplace, the Prime Minister also urged Chief Secretaries to explore its use as it would minimise leakages and delays.

CAIT’s plea

Meanwhile, the Confederation of All India Traders has asked the government to extend the deadline to file details of stock held up to June 30.

While the original deadline is September 30, the CAIT, in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has said the dateline should be extended till March 31, 2018.

According to the GST rules, registered traders have to file details of the stock held by them up to June 30 to claim input tax credit for the pre-GST regime.

However, CAIT said that traders have been busy in filing monthly returns of GST, returns for income tax and Registrar of Companies.

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