NEW DELHI: The I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties staged a protest in Parliament premises on Tuesday to press for the rollback of 18 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on life and health insurance premiums.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, "The Modi government even collected Rs 24,000 crore from millions of common Indians who pay health insurance premiums every year by saving every penny to ensure that they do not have to bow down to anyone in case of a 'health crisis' in life."
"Looking for a tax opportunity in every disaster is proof of the insensitive thinking of the BJP government. The INDIA bloc opposes this opportunistic thinking. Health and life insurance must be made GST-free," Gandhi said in a post on his X handle. He was present at the protest.
MPs from various parties, such as the TMC, Congress, AAP and the NCP (SC), among others, participated in the protest on the steps leading to the Makar Dwar of Parliament. Carrying placards reading "Tax terrorism", the protesting MPs raised slogans demanding that the GST on life and health insurance premiums be rolled back.
The 18 per cent GST on health and life insurance is also being criticised within the BJP-led NDA government. Last month, Union minister Nitin Gadkari wrote a letter to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to reconsider the imposition of GST on life and health insurance premiums.
Lending voice to the Opposition's protest against GST on health and life insurance premiums, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post in Hindi on X, wrote, "Today in the Parliament premises, INDIA parties demanded immediate removal of 18 per cent GST on health and life insurance premiums as this extortion is a severe blow to our people, especially the middle class."
"The middle class is already struggling under the burden of the Modi government's tax collection policies. India's medical inflation rate is the highest in Asia in 2024 -- at 14 per cent! On top of that, this 'Gabbar Singh Tax' on life insurance and health insurance is inhumane and another condemnable example of the BJP's policy of plundering from opportunity in disaster," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
Trinamul Congress MPs had also raised the issue in Parliament and party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Union finance minister on the matter.
