Exactly a day after the Tamil Nadu government announced that it will be floating a global tender to procure vaccines for residents aged 18-44 in the state, Chief Minister MK Stalin has on Thursday put out a fresh demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his bid to mitigate further damages to the state's economy amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The state government has written to the Prime Minister demanding Zero GST (Goods and Services Tax) on specified items including vaccines and drugs to treat the Corona-affected patients. In a press release, the government said, "The state governments have been procuring medicines and vaccines needed to control the pandemic by themselves. With the view of this fashion, the Chief Minister has discussed with the GST council and has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce zero GST on these items for a specified period of time."

Stalin's demand has drawn significant attention as the newly-formed state government is working towards procuring adequate vaccines to inoculate them to the people from the age category from 18-44, the targeted people in the third phase of India's vaccination drive which began on May 1. The Central government has shouldered the responsibility on the state governments to procure the vaccines from the manufacturers.

Several governments had demanded the Center to provide an adequate number of vaccines to concentrate on a larger populace and some of the state governments had decided to directly import the vaccines from the global manufacturers. Tamil Nadu is the latest state that had decided to import the vaccines and on Wednesday, the government has said that it will be floating global tenders to procure vaccines. 

As the state is reporting a dearth of vaccines, Chief Minister MK Stalin has decided to invite global tenders to meet the shortage. In his demand to the Prime Minister, Stalin has on Thursday made an additional list of suggestions for the Union government to support the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic while helping in developing the economic resources. 

The suggestions include immediate releasing of outstanding GST dues and the food grain subsidies payable to the state civil supplies corporations. Stalin has demanded the Central government to allow the states to borrow 1% higher than the current 3% of the states' GDP. The Chief Minister cited that as the Union government has not given a share in the taxes on fuel, it has to consider giving grants-in-aid to the states on an ad-hoc basis to compensate for the loss.