Lok Sabha Speaker to hold all party meet on July 17

New Delhi, July 13 (ANI): Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning July 18, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will preside over an all party meeting on July 17 at 6.30 p.m. The all-party meeting assumes significance in the wake of the NDA government's keen desire to ensure the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill to create a common national market. The passage of this Bill has been delayed owing strident objections from the opposition over certain clauses which it feels require amendment. Once adopted, the GST will dramatically alter India's indirect tax structure by replacing a string of central and local levies such as excise duty, value added tax and octroi into a single unified tax and stitch together a common national market. If Parliament fails to pass the Bill in this session, it will further delay the process of getting it ratified in at least half of the state assemblies. Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and S. S. Ahluwalia will preside over a meeting of secretaries of all ministries at Parliament House today. (ANI)