GST curtailing financial autonomy of States: H.D. Kumaraswamy
The Hindu
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka on celebrating fourth anniversary of GST regime
In a series of tweets on the fourth anniversary of the GST regime, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said that the system has ‘snatched away the rights and freedom of States with respect to taxes’. “The Centre, which had promised compensation to States for losses while including them in the GST regime, has now gone back on its words. Should the States celebrate the GST’s fourth anniversary for getting cheated on their tax resources,” the JD(S) leader asked.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.