GST Reduction On Milk Cans From 18 Per Cent To 12 Per Cent Misinterpreted As New Tax By Tamil Media

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a uniform goods and services tax (GST) at the rate of 12 per cent would be levied on all milk cans, following a recent meeting of the GST Council.

This was a reduction from the 18 per cent rate prevalent earlier.

However, a narrative was soon created that a 12 per cent tax had been newly introduced on milk cans, especially in Tamil media. 

An example of one such news card posted on X (formerly Twitter) can be seen here. 

These news cards did not share the information that the 12 per cent rate was actually a reduced rate and thus it led to criticism of Sitharaman and the central government.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) students wing president R Rajiv Gandhi even wrote a post on X as if a 12 per cent GST on milk cans was a new tax being introduced by the government.

Countering the narrative, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and supporters wrote posts explaining that the tax had actually been reduced.

Some of them also tagged L Murugan, the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and asked him to take the necessary action against those circulating fake news. 

This is not the first time that fake news has been spread about GST regarding milk.

S M Nasar, who was the Dairy minister of Tamil Nadu before he was replaced by Mano Thangaraj, had once said that the rise in price of Aavin milk (milk sold by a state owned cooperative), was because GST had been introduced on milk by the central government. 

Instances of Tamil media spreading fake news, especially those in relation with the BJP are many, with one of the most recent examples being in the aftermath of the blast at the Rameswaram Cafe in Bengaluru.

While the National Investigation Agency had called a BJP member, Sai Prasad, for questioning, Tamil media portrayed it as if he was one of the accused in the case.

In another case, BJP state secretary S G Suryah, called out Sun News (owned by the Maran family closely related to Chief Minister M K Stalin) for posting a news card stating that people had chanted "Ab Ki Baar Chocobar" instead of "Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar" during a roadshow of the Prime Minister in Chennai.