Aam Aadmi Party’s National General Secretary Dr. Sandeep Pathak on Saturday condemned the proposal to impose GST on research grants received since 2017, claiming that this was the such move in global history.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Pathak criticized the government for allegedly stifling innovation and progress by taxing research meant for the nation’s development, and has called for an immediate withdrawal of this policy in the upcoming meeting of the GST Council.

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Pathak said, “The Modi government’s recent decision to impose a tax on research grants marks a dangerous new chapter in the BJP’s intention. They have proposed to impose GST on the grants given to research institutions, retrospectively from 2017. A show-cause notice has been issued to all premier institutes that they will have to pay GST on all the research grants they have received from 2017 till now. They have demanded a GST of around 220 crores, which includes premier institutes like IIT Delhi.”

Pathak further said, “This is happening for the first time in the history of not only the country, but the entire world that a government is imposing taxes on research grants. The government argues that since research is a service, GST should be imposed on it. This is a very hysterical argument. Research is a service to humanity, it serves humankind for eternity. Research and Development (R&D) also takes the nation forward. The country’s development is based on this and the government is levying tax on it,” the AAP leader added, further terming it as outright ‘tax terrorism.”

The senior AAP leader and RS MP affirmed that the party strongly condemns the proposal to impose GST on research grants, and added that in the GST Commission meeting which is about to take place, the party will demand the government to withdraw it unconditionally.

“If the government does not withdraw this policy, then the AAP will raise its voice against this proposal on every appropriate forum and will make every possible effort to make the government withdraw it,” he added.

He has also said that the move is something beyond anyone’s understanding, and giving examples of USA, UK, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, and Canada, he said there is no tax on R&D anywhere.