NEW DELHI – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that big changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be made by Diwali. He called these changes a “Diwali gift” to the people and said they will help the economy flourish. Modi said from the Red Fort’s ramparts on the 79th Independence Day that it is time for a “next-generation” overhaul of the tax system after eight years of use.
Modi added that a Group of Ministers (GoM), which includes the finance ministers from each state, is already working on making GST slabs smaller and more reasonable. The revisions should lower taxes on things that regular people use a lot, which will make everyday items cheaper and be a major help to small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs). A task force will be set up to suggest all the modifications that need to be made in a timely way to speed up these changes even further.
Commending the Work of “Nari Shakti”
The Prime Minister also talked about how women are making more and more contributions to India’s social and economic success in his speech. He stated that women, or “nari shakti,” are now “standing shoulder to shoulder in the country’s journey of development” and making their mark in every field, from space and startups to the military and sports.
Modi notably lauded the “NaMo Drone Didi” project, which has given rural women a new identity and made them feel proud. He recounted a story of a woman who said that people in her community now call her a “pilot” and that her status has grown even though she isn’t really well-educated. He also remembered how “pride swept across the nation” when the first group of women cadets graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA). He called this occasion historic.