During its ten-year tenure, the Congress did not take any decision in the interests of traders, and rather harassed them.

Chandigarh, June 21 – Haryana Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu, today said that during its ten-year tenure, the Congress did not take any decision in the interests of traders, and rather harassed them.
Reacting to a statement of Congress spokesman, Mr. Randeep Singh Surjewala, the Finance Minister said that as the opposition party did not have any issues to raise, it was indulging in petty politics by levelling baseless allegations.
“During the Congress regime, the traders had to run from pillar to post to get their demands heard and their appeals fell on deaf ears. However, in its tenure of two-and-a-half years, the present State Government has taken several decisions in the interests of traders,” he added.
He said that the present State Government had made most of the government works and processes related to the traders online so that they may not have to visit government offices for their works again and again. C-Form has been made available online and this facility has been availed lakhs of times, whereas earlier corruption was rampant in issuance of C-Form and traders had to face many difficulties during the process. The Haryana Government has also launched e-services such as e-Registration, e-Payment of taxes, e-Filing of returns and e-Tender.
With a view to encourage agro-based industries, the Haryana Government has exempted cottonseed, oilcake, besan and cotton yarn manufactured in the State, and mehendi and biodiesel from Value Added Tax (VAT).
He said that with a view to encourage issuance of bills of purchase, the Government had started award scheme namely ‘Apna Bill Apna Vikas’. Besides, scheme to felicitate top three tax-payers in every district would be prepared. The Haryana Government has provided relief to traders from interference by Inspector Raj by implementing e-services, he added.
He said that electricity tariffs for industries were being reduced and it was proposed to reduce the tariff by Re 1 per unit. The Government has also constituted Trader Welfare Board through which works are being carried out by establishing coordination between the traders and the government.
He also highlighted other initiatives taken by the present State Government for the welfare of traders, including formation of trader advisory committees at district level, implementation of insurance scheme for traders on sharing formula on the pattern of farmers, abolishment of one per cent market fee prescribed for small traders with turnover of up to Rs 4 lakh, revision of upper limit of VAT/CST refund and implementation of fast track system for disposal of pending matters of traders. While many of these initiatives have already been implemented, work is underway to implement the rest.
The Haryana Government has also launched the facility of ease of doing business to attract entrepreneurs to invest in the State by providing all clearances under single roof. As a result, Haryana now ranks sixth in terms of ease of doing business, as compared to 15th earlier, he added.