Do some dadagiri at home, shop freely: Amit Shah's GST 2.0 pitch to women

Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked women across the country to shop till they drop starting September 22, when sweeping rate cuts under the new GST 2.0 regime kick in.

“Diwali and Navratri will be coming soon. Everything you use will now have a GST of 0 per cent and 5 per cent instead of 28 per cent and 18 per cent. I want to tell the mothers and sisters of Delhi to do dadagiri (be the boss) at home and start shopping more and more from 22 September,” Shah said.

He made the announcements after unveiling over a dozen welfare schemes worth Rs 1,723 crore in Delhi on Wednesday, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday.

But the cheer came with a rider: make it swadeshi.

“Shop freely, but only buy things made in India, not outside. The time has come for every citizen of India to take a pledge to buy only what is made in our country,” Shah said, echoing PM Modi’s call to be “vocal for local”.

The push for Swadeshi gained momentum after the US slapped a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. A day before the penalties took effect, the Prime Minister urged the public to make Swadeshi their “life’s mantra”.

Shah drove the point home: “Promoting Swadeshi should become our nature. Only then will the resolution of a prosperous India be fulfilled.”

WHAT’S IN GST 2.0?

The GST 2.0 reforms, cleared at the 56th GST Council meeting earlier this month, propose a simplified tax structure—two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent for most goods and services, with a steep 40 per cent demerit rate reserved only for luxury and “sin” goods.

For the average consumer, it means that most everyday essentials that earlier attracted 12 or 18 per cent GST are down to 5 per cent.

Beauty and wellness services such as gyms, salons, barbers and yoga centres will now be taxed at 5 per cent instead of 18.

White goods including air conditioners, dishwashers and TVs also get cheaper, with their tax burden slashed.

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