Scrap Notification to Treat Agricultural Tractors as Transport Vehicle!

BJP Government Stop Mounting Burdens on the Peasantry!
All India Kisan Sabha condemns the move of the BJP Government at the Centre to treat Agricultural Tractors as ‘Transport’ vehicle and mount burdens in the form of taxes and levies on the farmers. The insensitive anti-farmer nature of the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government is exposed as they are mounting one burden after another on the farmers despite the fact that farm incomes are drastically falling and acute agrarian distress is the order of the day under the BJP rule. AIKS calls for scrapping forthwith the notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which calls for changes in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 to omit “Agricultural Tractors is a Non-Transport Vehicle” from the Rules.

This move will amount to tractors being equated and treated at par with the commercial transport vehicles and attract the taxes, levies and other charges which so far they were exempted from. According to farmers in a year over Rs.30,000/- will be the expense incurred on paying different fees, levies and taxes. Already under the GST regime farmers are facing a high burden and if tractors are treated as commercial transport vehicles there is the possibility that this will be used as a pretext to increase GST rate further from 12 percent to 28 percent which is present GST for Motor Vehicles that can carry ten or more persons. It is notable that the BJP Government had proposed to raise GST for tractors to 28 percent and had reduced it under pressure from farmers. The GST for spare parts of tractors has also been kept at a high of 18 percent. Multiple burdens are being mounted on the peasantry by this anti-people regime.

AIKS will organise the peasantry and expose the anti-farmer face of the BJP Government.

Sd/-
Ashok Dhawale
President
Hannan Mollah General Secretary