The Cabinet Secretary Shri P.K.Sinha today took a detailed review of the preparedness for the roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1st July 2017. In a Review Meeting attended by the Secretaries of 30 Ministries/Departments of the Central Government connected with GST, and video conferencing with CMDs/CEOs of about 167 Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) under their administrative control, the Cabinet Secretary asked all those involved to take full responsibility of their respective stake-holders, and ensure the successful implementation of the GST.
The Cabinet Secretary Shri Sinha expressed his satisfaction over the preparedness of different Ministries and CPSUs for the roll-out of GST w.e.f. 1st July 2017. However, he asked them that they should leave no stone unturned for its effective and smooth implementation by educating and involving all the stakeholders concerned.
The focus of the today’s Review Meeting was on the progress made by the different Ministries and CPSUs in getting GST-Ready and status of preparation of their IT system in order to align with GST Network system. Other aspects included the arrangements made by the different Departments for opening the GST Facilitation Cell and a Call Center to guide their respective client groups and vendors. The Cabinet Secretary also asked the Secretaries to organize training programmes and workshops for their officers and stakeholders in order to update and upgrade their information and skills about GST structure and processes. He said that the Department of Revenue, Government of India has lot of experts and resource persons to help them in this regard. Shri Sinha also asked the Secretaries of different Departments/Ministries and CMDs of CPSUs to organize outreach meetings and launch publicity campaigns for explaining the provisions of New GST related Laws and Rules to their respective stake-holders, and also to update them about other GST related issues.