Rather is New Chief of GST Panel

Rather elected chairman EC of State Finance Ministers of India

New Delhi: J&K Finance Minister, A R Rather was today unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers. The election was held in New Delhi in presence of Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, who is also patron of the Empowered Committee.

The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers is an important forum at the national level engaged in discussing various tax reforms proposed at national level from time to time and building consensus thereon. The committee meets regularly and all the decisions are taken on the basis of consensus. It has to its credit, besides other achievements, the implementation of the very important and landmark decisions; first the harmonization of sales tax structure through implementation of uniform floor rates of sales tax, which resulted in the end of unhealthy sales tax ‘rate war’ among the states; second, the introduction of state-level VAT. Presently, the introduction of Goods and Services Tax in the country is under discussion in the Committee.

Rather is the third Chairman of the Empowered Committee which came into being in the year 1999. Its first Chairman was Mr. Asim Kumar Dasgupta, a renowned Economist of the country, the then Finance Minister of West Bengal. Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi, the then Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar was its second Chairman.

The name of Rather was proposed for Chairman of EC by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheela Dikshit and seconded by the Chief Minister of Tripura. All other Finance Ministers also showed consensus on the election of Rather as Chairman of the Empowered Committee.

After the election, Rather thanked the Union Finance Minister, the other States Finance Ministers and other members of the governing body who took part in the election and assured them that he will try his best to come up to their expectations.

Born at Badipora in Tehsil Chadoora in District Budgam, Rather is M.A. LLB with Diploma in Public Administration. He has practiced at the BAR from 1971 to 1977 and was elected to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 1977. He has been winning his Assembly seat in all elections i.e. 1983, 1996, 2002 and 2008.

Rather was unanimously elected as Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in 1982. In 1983, he was inducted in the Cabinet as Finance Minister. Thereafter, he held important portfolios in the State Government from time to time. He remained Minister for Agriculture, Rural Development Panchayats, Cooperation, Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Haj and Auqaf, Law and Parliamentary Affairs and at present holds the charge of Finance and Ladakh Affairs Ministry of Jammu and Kashmir State. He has also been member of Central Executive Committee of National Conference since 1980. He has headed various Parliamentary Committees of the State Legislature such as Public Accounts Committee (PSC), Public undertakings Committee (PUC), Committee on Government Assurances, General Purposes Committee, House Committee, Rural Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Subordinate Legislations and represented the state Legislator in various National seminars and led several delegations. He was also leader of the opposition in Jammu and Kashmir legislative Assembly from July 2004 to July 2008 and is the first MLA in State who has been returned from the same Constituency (Chrari-Sharief Constituency) six times in a row.

Rather, in his socio political career is credited with many awards which include Life Time Achievement Award, Best Legislators Award, Finance Wizards Awards and Dr. Ambedkar Award.

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