Q. With reference to the GST Council, consider the following statements:
1. Union Finance Minister and Chief Ministers of all states are members of the Council.
2. The vote of the Central government has 50% weightage of the total votes in the Council.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Exp) Option d is the correct answer
The (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, was passed in 2016. It inserted, Article 279A, which provided for the Goods and Services Tax Council.
Statement 1 is incorrect. The GST Council is a federal body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
It consists of the following members:
- Union Finance Minister
- Union Minister of State for finance
- The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members. Chief Ministers of all states are not members of the Council.
Statement 2 is incorrect. As per the Constitution, in case of a voting, every decision of the GST Council has to be taken by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present. The vote of the central government has a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast, and the votes of all the state governments taken together have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast in that meeting.
