Praja Arogya Vedika (PAV) has called for the center to abolish goods and services tax (GST) on COVID-19 drugs and equipment for at least a year or until the pandemic is wiped out.
In a statement on Sunday, PAV General Secretary T. Kameswara Rao and President MV Ramanayya welcomed the centre’s decision to abolish the GST for drugs used to treat mucormycosis (black fungus) and only reduce the GST from 12% to 5% on COVID- 19 medication and even that until September was not the right solution.
They said a third wave was predicted by scientists sometime in September and is expected to last until around January / February 2022. The pandemic was crippling the poor and middle class financially, and the GST withdrawal in September would cause them more trouble. They said. The PAV leaders also called for the removal of the GST for COVID-19 vaccines.