In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is also the Chairman of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, The Chief Minister  of Bihar, Nitish Kumar has urged the GST Council to grant exemption to  ingredients like ghee, edible oil and spices, for preparing “langar” (community kitchen) food served by gurudwaras. said  that in spite of relaxation of GST on langar, there are a few ingredients which are imposed to tax, these should be exempted as it is for a holy purpose.Bihar is home to a number of gurudwaras, most renowned of them being the Takht Harmandir Patna Sahib in Patna, situated in a locality where Guru Gobind Singh is said to have been born and spent his childhood.

Gurudwaras, Mosques, Temples are religious places which offer meals but are ruled out granting tax exemption to inputs used for making prasad such as sugar, vegetable edible oils, ghee, and butter.

“In this context, you will agree that gurudwaras are engaged in charitable activities and well-recognized as centers of selfless service. The most prominent of such activities is providing food through langars, to everyone and anyone who visits a gurudwara. The system of langar has been in vogue since the inception of the Panth and it is an activity embedded in benevolent Sikh tradition,” Kumar said.

Bihar is looking forward to receiving an exemption in order to serve the community with full zest.

source:  financial express