New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged states to reduce the Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel and inculcate the spirit of cooperative federalism in the national interest. PM Modi made this appeal during a meeting with the Chief Ministers regarding the Kovid situation. “The health infrastructure has improved only because of the joint efforts of the Center and the states,” he said, adding that coordination is more important now, especially when the world is witnessing a war situation. In the situation the world is going through, in such a situation, we need to increase the feelings of cooperative federalism.
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Citing an example, the Prime Minister said that the central government reduced taxes on fuel and some states followed suit, but some did not. “Due to this, fuel prices are high in those states, which is affecting the people of the states. I am not criticizing anyone but requesting Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu to reduce VAT and give benefits to the people. I am appealing to you for the welfare of your people, in the national interest, please reduce VAT for the benefit of your people. What was supposed to be done was not done, but please cooperate now.
On Covid-19, PM Modi said that the government’s priority is to vaccinate all eligible children for Kovid at the earliest and special programs will need to be organized for this in schools. PM Modi said that it is clear that the threat of coronavirus is not completely over yet. Referring to the increase in the cases of corona infection in some states in the last two weeks, he said, ‘We need to be cautious. Our scientists and experts are constantly monitoring the national and global situation. We have to work on their suggestions with a collective approach.
The PM further said, ‘Stopping the infection at the very beginning has also been our priority and it should remain the same even today. We have to implement our strategy of Test, Track and Treat effectively. In the current situation of coronavirus, it is necessary that we have a 10o percent RT-PCR test of patients admitted to the hospitals.
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