Onus on Modi, Jaitley to implement GST from July 1: Congress

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday said the government should ensure that its promise of implementing GST from July 1 is met, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should be held responsible if the pan-India tax regime is not implemented properly.

"This is for the government to ensure that their promise of implementing GST from July 1 is met," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar.

"We want the government to take all steps to ensure that the economy does not get further derailed. Ultimately Jaitley and Modi will be held responsible if the GST and its implementation is not done properly," he said.

The Congress also urged the government to focus on critical areas, which they had promised, like jobs for the youth, welfare of farmers and increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs, in its remaining two years in office.

"The economy is in trouble. Jobs in the IT sector are reducing, market is down, manufacturing is down, services are down, jobs are down, no growth is happening but Jaitley says that the economy is okay," said Kumar.

"Jaitley is entitled to his opinion but he has no right to have his own facts - the fact is 6.1 per cent GDP, Gross Value Added (GVA) is down, construction sector is down, manufacturing sector is down and India's growth is down," he said.