CAPF canteens in the red; petition govt for GST relief

Paramilitary forces have sounded alarm bells saying over 1,700 of their canteens, used by lakhs of troops and their families to run their daily households, may soon have to down their shutters if they are not provided GST "exemption" similar to the defence-run CSDs.

A senior official involved in the running of these country-wide canteens, called Central Police Canteens (CPCs), said stocks of groceries, daily kitchen goods and other miscellaneous items have dipped to an all-time low as there is no clarity for their operations after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"The stocks are in the red. The government has been petitioned time and again about the exemptions required to run these subsidised canteens for jawans, but there has been no final decision.

"A number of CPCs are now running on low stocks as no new procurement is happening. If no GST concession is allowed like that for defence canteens then the entire CPC system that runs on subsidised tax rates for troops will stop," the official said.

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(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)