PESHAWAR, March 23: ANP secretary information Haji Mohammad Adeel has slammed the government to impose GST on the prices of drugs, says a press release on Saturday.

He said that the imposition of GST on all drugs including the life saving drugs was unfortunate because no country in the world had ever imposed GST on drugs, food items and school materials.

He said it was on the record that finance minister had declared that GST would not be levied on medicines. The tax has been imposed to eliminate the healthcare facilities in a country where the people had negligible health facilities.

He said that these unpopular and ill-advised steps were aimed at preparing the president Musharraf for the proposed referendum in the country.

Meanwhile, the NWFP Pakistan Tehrik Insaf president, Nawabzada Muhsin Ali Khan, has criticized the government to impose 15 per cent sales tax on drugs and has asked the government to review the decision.

A press release issued on Saturday, the PTI provincial chief expressed concern over the recent levy and said it would deprive the people of the healthcare facilities in the country. He said the people were already being faced with tremendous economic hardships because of the skyrocketing prices of all commodities of daily use and needed relief.