TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao has demanded the state government to roll back the Value Added Tax (VAT) on textiles failing which the party will take the government to task on the floor of the House.
Addressing the textile traders at Indira Park here on Tuesday, Rao said that the state government is imposing VAT on textiles which is not there anywhere in the country. He warned the state government that it would have to face severe consequences if it failed to withdraw VAT on textiles forthwith.
He said VAT would be abolished if Telangana state was formed. He said industries were being shut down due to prolonged power cuts severely affecting the livelihood of industrial workers. He said the Congress government in the state was solely responsible for all the ills due to its gross inefficiency and lack of foresightedness. Students were put to untold hardships during examination time, he said.
The chief minister and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana were adopting anti-people policies which are harming the interest of the people, the TRS chief alleged. Earlier in the day, the textile traders under the banner of Andhra Pradesh Federation of Textile Association (APFTA) took out a rally from MG Road to Indira Park to protest against state government’s move to bring textiles under sensitive commodities and refusal to withdraw VAT on textiles.
Over 5,000 traders from twin cities and other parts of the state took out the rally.
Speaking on the occasion, APFTA president Ammanabolu Prakash said nowhere in the country VAT is being collected on textiles.
Nearly one crore people are dependent on this industry for their livelihood, directly or indirectly and warned that the textile traders will migrate to neighbouring states. The implementation of VAT is affecting both consumers and traders as both have to shell out extra money to buy and sell the textiles, he added.
He said they would intensify the agitation till the VAT is scrapped. In Jan 2012, the traders observed textile bandh for over a week and later called off the strike following an assurance from the government. But it failed to keep up its word, he said.
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