‘Nagaland State has 10,000 GST registered taxpayers’

June 25, 2022 47 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 25

Delving into discussions related to the need for inculcating basic financial literacy and capital management within society, Sashi Wapang, IRS, Additional Commissioner Taxes, CGST revealed that, “we have about 10,000 GST-registered taxpayers in Nagaland and that is only likely to grow as companies or proprietorships require professionals to do tax-returns and accounting for them.”

He proposed further that as huge sums of capital flows out the state annually, government and society need to present efficient strategies towards retaining the circulation of money within the state.

The Additional Commissioner made these remarks, as the guest of honour, during the one-day awareness programme on Financial Management Education organised by the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) in collaboration with the NSE Academy, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India limited, at Greenwood School, Dimapur on June 24.

He further stated that, overall financial literacy in India is still very poor as only 27.9% of the population, between the age-group of 25-44 years, are financially literate. Nevertheless, he advocated for renewed efforts starting from education and the school system to prepare the younger generation for such challenges. “Today I am happy that the NBSE is providing such programmes for the school students as we never had this kind of opportunity during our time,” he noted.

He highlighted that in the past, “the safest way of storing money was adeptly under the ground; however over time there are now many more ways not only to save money but to make it grow. Financial literacy and management is about you and your relationship with money.” He reminded the students that financial management is a lifelong affair.

While admitting that Nagas in general are weak in the intricacies of finance, he said the possibility of making a turnaround within one generation is realizable, “if we put in the required efforts.”

Caution against online frauds/scams
Besides these points, the Additional Commissioner also called attention towards the dangers of online scams and frauds which have mushroomed across the country in the last few years as more individuals have smart phones in their hands now.

Especially in relation to customs scams and stealing banking details from individuals who might not be aware of such deceptions, he reminded people not to be gullible or believe in everything that they see/read on the internet. “It is mostly due to our greed and lack of financial literacy that we fall for such scams,” he said.

He meanwhile encouraged the high-school students to make use of the opportunity to arm themselves with financial literacy skills for the benefit of the Nagas in the future.

The chief guest of the event, Ranganathan S, Chief Manager, NSE Academy Ltd, on the other hand explained that the team has taught at various schools and educational institutions across India and abroad about financial management in a “systematic manner.” “As such we are so excited to be a partner of NBSE for the last eight years.”

He stated that according to the National Financial Literacy Board, Nagaland is ranked 7th in terms of financial literacy. “So the complete credit goes to the students, teachers and the educational board here in the State,” he praised.

However he noted that financial literacy is not for students to know in general, but for society as a whole to be aware and up-to date about. “We’re happy to work further on it through introducing new programmes in the curriculum for the students,” he commented.

The programme was attended by students and teachers from various schools across Dimapur.

At the same time, officials from NSE academy also gave a presentation on Financial Management education for the benefit of the students.

It may be mentioned here that NBSE and NSE Academy, back in 2017, had joined hands to introduce a compulsory course on financial literacy for the students of Class IX.

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/nagaland-state-has-10000-gst-registered-taxpayers