Shoe Making Industry In Agra Protests GST Rate Hike
Agra, January 13 (TNA) Facing a serious threat to survival, hundreds of shoe factory owners and thousands of workers this week hit the streets protesting steep hike in the GST rate.
For past one week they have been agitating and meeting politicians to press for roll back. So far their efforts have not yielded any tangible benefits. The GST rate has been increased from five to 12 percent, effective from January 1.
The factory owners are demanding a roll back because the increase could finish off the small and cottage industry producing leather shoes in Agra which produces over 60 percent of the total output.
The proposed hike in GST on shoes costing upto ₹1000, will sound the death knell of the industry, a delegation that met senior officials and ministers said. They said four lakh workers of the shoe industry were facing a bleak future and if the industry is hit, they will be on roads without work.
Shoe manufacturers met the former governor of Uttarakhand Baby Rani Maurya who promised to take their case to the central leaders. The Aam Admi Party workers joined the protest and submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding roll back of the hike.
The Joota Dastkar Federation has also presented a memorandum addressed to the prime minister, warning that the shoe workers would lose jobs and start migrating, if the hike was not taken back.
In a memorandum to the ADM city, the Agra Shoe Factors’ Federation, said the industry was already in the dumps due to the pandemic lockdown, now the GST hike had delivered a severe blow to small traders and shoe makers.
The Agra shoe industry is as old as the Mughals in India, engaging around four lakh workers, including packers, transporters, suppliers. Under the state government’s one district one product shoe manufacturing has been promoted from Agra.
Before the GST hike shoes costing below ₹500 were tax free and those above till ₹1000 were taxed at five percent. Shoe manufacturers claim that because the leather shoes from Agra are affordable, they take care of almost 65 percent of the market in India.