Instead of declaring “The Kashmir Files” tax-free, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should have emulated his predecessor late Manohar Parrikar, and lowered the VAT on fuel prices, Congress MLA Yuri Alemao said on Saturday.

“The Chief Minister has declared the film tax-free. The loss to the state exchequer would have gone to the director as benefit or the producer of that particular film,” Alemao told reporters at the state legislative assembly complex.

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Alemao also cited the example of then Chief Minister Parrikar, who in 2012, had reduced the state government’s value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to almost zero per cent, in order to reduce fuel prices at the time, which made rates of the two popularly used fuels cheapest in the entire country.

“Today what does the common man want, that the rise in the price of fuel should stop. This is an insensitive government. This is the fourth day that the prices of diesel and petrol have increased by 80 paise. It will keep on increasing. They do not care about the common people,” Alemao said.

“The Congress had promised to cap fuel prices at Rs 80 by reducing the VAT. When Manohar Parrikar was CM, he had reduced it himself. The hardship faced by the people due to Covid, VAT should be reduced to give them relief,” Alemao said.

The Goa government on Friday had issued a notification granting tax-free status to the Vivek Agnihotri-directed film “The Kashmir Files” for “disseminating positive message amongst public for ensuring that such events are not repeated in future”.