After hearing the couple’s concerns, Tharoor wrote to Nirmala, asking her to help exempt the parents from GST on humanitarian grounds.
Updated – Wed 29 Mar 23 at 04:58pm
Hyderabad: With the help of Congressman Shahi Tharoor and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a young couple has secured Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief worth Rs 7 lakh for cancer drugs for their baby Niharika.
The former diplomat shared on his Instagram a picture of a letter he sent to Nirmala after he was contacted by the parents of baby Niharika, who was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma (Stage IV), a form of Rare cancer for which the only treatment is an injection which costs Rs 6.5 lakh.
He pointed out that the current import cost of a vial of Dinutuximab Beta or Qarziba for injection is very expensive at Rs 10 lakh per vial.
“They raise the required funds through scooping, saving, borrowing and crowdfunding, but when they import the drug, they need to pay an additional GST of Rs 7 lakh, which they cannot afford,” he said. indicated in the accompanying drawings.
After hearing the couple’s concerns, Tharoor wrote to Nirmala, asking her to help exempt the parents from GST on humanitarian grounds.
Tharoor revealed that initially his letter went unanswered and the injection was stuck at Mumbai airport as customs would not release it without payment of GST. He then called Nirmala and told her that the baby was dependent on her to exercise her authority immediately because the medicine was perishable and would expire while in customs custody.
He further added that she expressed sympathy and within half an hour, her personal assistant Sernya Bhutia informed Tharoor that she had spoken to the Chairman of the Indirect Taxes and Customs Committee. He has since been contacted by chairman Vivek Johari for more documents, and the waiver was granted on Tuesday.
