Rajya Sabha: Opposition demands caste census, super rich tax

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday pressed for a caste census, imposition of super rich tax, and removal of GST levy on life and medical insurance premiums.

Participating in a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation No. 3 Bill, 2024 in the Upper House, Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party expressed happiness at the indexation benefit being "partially restored".

However, he said, this poses a "huge question mark" over the central government's tax policies.

"... How confused is our country's taxation policy. On 23 July 2024, you say that you are taking away the indexation benefit from investors and exactly after two weeks, you say that you are not taking it away but restoring it. This shows that when you, without thinking, not acting on the advice of an economist, if you devise the Budget on the advice of those who do not have economic knowledge, these kind of flip flops will be witnessed," he said.

Taking away indexation from an Indian investor is equivalent to breaking their back, Chadha claimed, seeking "full restoration" of the indexation benefit.

"I would demand that indexation (benefit) be fully restored on all asset classes and be applicable even on asset classes bought after July 23, 2024," he said.

Besides, citing Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari's letter to his Finance counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, Chadha requested that no Goods and Services Tax (GST) be levied on health and life insurance premium.

Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) argued that ten per cent of the people have control over majority of the country's properties.

"Can our country, taking into account the Preamble, make an arrangement for the top 1 per cent of the super rich to be taxed so that our other policies function efficiently and we can work towards the group that is our priority," Jha said.

He argued that a caste census will ensure that the Budget announcements will be "more effective".

P Wilson of the DMK claimed that no allocation has been made in the Budget towards important projects in Tamil Nadu, and accused the Centre of ignoring the people of the state.

He alleged that the government is not showing any interest in conducting caste census and increasing the reservation for the OBC, SC and ST communities in proportion to increase in their population.

"So far as the Budget is concerned, it fails to address the lack of employment, fails to address the opportunities in the country, high inflation rate, increase in the black money, corruption, and high diesel-petrol-oil prices even after the reduction in the global oil (prices). It is time for accountability and a re-evaluation of priorities to ensure a fair and inclusive future for all," Wilson said.

Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress said the government claims that it has restored peace in Jammu and Kashmir with the removal of Article 370, but soldiers are getting martyred there and even civilians are losing their lives.

Participating in the debate, CPI (M) MP John Brittas raised the issue of inflation and unemployment, saying prices of essential commodities are going up and simultaneously purchasing power of people is coming down.

Newspapers have reported prices of vegetable thalis have gone up by 11 per cent within a month, he said, adding that the government would not have presented such a budget, had it understood the meaning of 'mehengai'.

On unemployment Brittas stated that he had thought the government will present a people-friendly budget.

"Just see corporate tax (2018-19) contribution was 3.5 per cent to the GDP, rather than going up it has declined to 3.1 per cent despite profits of the corporates quadruple whereas income tax has gone up." He stated that the Centre is mopping up large amount of money in the form of duties and surcharge which is not shared with states.

He asked the government to stop this.

He also raised the issue of landslides in Kerala on which two Union ministers intervened.

On this, Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Gopi said, "I strongly defer with what he has said all untruth. All his allegations are fake. We are envisaging a major spiritual (tourism) network running from Tamil Nadu into Kerala." The kind of damage done to pristine locations belonging to tourism projects like one instance of Varkala beach, he said that the state government has crossed lines set by department of geology.

He urged the Chairman to send a team to inspect how environment structure has been ruptured in Kerala.

Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said,"Those who have died in Kerala landslide, I keep empathy for them not just me but the entire House. If he says I have insulted them then it is unparliamentary." "Kerala government in last three years gave three mining leases and illegal structures came up, illegal mining happened. It came in news. Kerala government should not do politics on that," the minister said.

Nominated MP Satnam Singh Sandhu supported the budget, saying the total budget size has increased to Rs 48 lakh crore in last 10 years.

V Sivdasan of CPI (M) said there are not enough number of medical staff in central and ESIC hospitals.

"Union govt announced AIIMs for every state. Union should declare special package for Kerala. Government remained silent in the budget which is injustice to people," he stated.

BJP MP Sikandar Kumar, BRS MP K R Suresh Reddy and BSP MP Ramji also participated in the debate.

The government on Tuesday proposed a relief for individuals who bought houses before July 23, 2024 by giving them the option to choose between two tax rates (20 per cent with indexation benefit or 12.5 per cent without indexation) for calculating long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on sale of their properties.

The Budget 2024-25 had proposed to lower the LTCG from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent but removed the indexation benefits. The new rates have come into effect from July 23, 2024. The indexation benefit allowed taxpayers to compute gains arising out of the sale of capital assets after adjusting for inflation.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the 18 per cent GST being levied on life and medical insurance premiums. PTI