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Journalism of Courage
Earlier this week, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the addition of 5 per cent GST on pre-packed or pre-labelled food items.
The announcement prompted a flurry of memes on paneer butter masala, a dish that netizens thought will become expensive after the imposition of new taxes. Soon, #PaneerButterMasala began trending on Twitter.
Joking about the possible increase in the dish’s price, a Twitter user tagged food delivery services and wrote, “To dear @zomato and @Swiggy, I would like to inform you that I have stopped eating Paneer Butter Masala. So kindly stop sending me notification for ordering paneer. I can’t afford Paneer Butter Masala now #paneerbuttermasala #MEMES #GST #GSThike”.
https://twitter.com/ChoudharyChach1/status/1549705969742925824
Another person wrote, “Paneer Butter Masala should be free from GST as it comes in plate and not in packing.”.
On Wednesday, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also joined the #PaneerButterMasala trend and tweeted a WhatsApp forward that he had received on the subject.
While sharing a picture that prompted people to calculate the Goods and Services Tax on a dish of paneer butter masala since all its ingredients will be differently taxed, the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote, “I don’t know who comes up with these brilliant WhatsAPP forwards but this one skewers the folly of the GST as few jokes have!”.
Tharoor’s subtle dig at the Central Government for imposing 5 per cent GST on essential items like packed curd, pulses, rice, and other food items has gathered over 9,000 likes.
