Centre's nod for VAT implementation in Pondy

Puducherry, Jun 1 (UNI) The Centre has given Union Territory of Puducherry its consent to implement Value Added Tax (VAT) by an Ordinance, Chief Minister's Secretary Vasanthakumar Reddy said today.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Reddy said the administration had received orders in this regard and the date to implement the VAT would be decided after consulting with Puducherry Lt Governor.

It may be noted that the Chief Minister, in his budget speech, had announced that VAT would be implemented in Puducherry from June 1.

However, no Bill in this regard was tabled during the recent budget session.

Later, the administration announced that VAT would be implemented through an ordinance, for which the Centre had now given its concurrence.

Earlier, Mr Viswanathan MLA, strongly opposed the government's move to implement VAT through an ordinance and said the move was a clear violation of democratic norms.

He had urged the government to table the Bill in the House for a discussion.

The traders were confused and the department concerned did not have the infrastrucutre needed for smooth implementation of the VAT, he said.

Mr Viswanathan demanded that the administration must call for an all party meeting and a traders meet before promulgating an Ordinance.

He said the government had done the right thing by promoting all government school Plus One students to Plus two, following the strike called by the lecturers valuing the answer papers.

UNI