ISLAMABAD, March 22: Consumer right activists have asked the government to immediately withdraw 15 per cent GST on medicines.

They also announced to launch a campaign against the decision for which a study had already been initiated.

The government on Thursday imposed a 15 per cent GST on all kinds of medicines with immediate effect.

Deploring the decision Dr Zafar Mirza of The Network for Consumer Protection recalled that on December 10, 2001 the government had announced drug price increase of three per cent on controlled and four per cent on decontrolled categories of drugs respectively.

However, prices went up by 40 per cent.

About the government’s claim of generating Rs4 billion revenue through the decision of reinvesting in the health sector, he said it sounded farcical as no specific policy had been made public.

Such an increase in medicine prices was due to the government’s tricky policies, whose brunt was to be faced by the poor consumers, he said.

Dr Mirza explained that GST was symbolic of the elitist economy, where rich became richer and were diligently protected by the state while poor became poorer.

He said revenue could be generated easily from the elite classes by making them pay what they owe to the state in the form of unpaid taxes, which amounted to Rs152 billion.

The defaulted loans stood at 29 per cent of the total advances from public sector banks, not to mention the off-shore siphoned billions, he added.