Was promise of GST compensation a jumla?

The Central Government has told states that it will not pay compensation for shortfall in collections of goods and services tax (GST). The GST took away the right of states to levy their own taxes on goods and services so the Center promised to compensate for any shortfall, using 2015-16 as the base year and assuming growth in tax collection at 14% per year. However, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is refusing to honor its pledge. "Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the economy has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which is an 'Act of God', and it will see a contraction in the current fiscal. As per the Center's calculations, states will be facing a shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore (Rs 2.35 trillion) in GST revenues in 2020-21." Instead, the Center has given states two options to borrow money from the market, underwritten by the Reserve Bank (RBI), while reducing its own liability by claiming helplessness. But the RBI "is likely to prefer that the Center borrows and gives money to the states" as compensation and so "avoiding the proposed special mechanism for borrowing that would amount to monetisation".The government is lying. GST payments were being delayed since last year, well before anyone heard of the virus. That is because growth in India's gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen every year since hitting a high of 8.3% in 2016-17, to a low of 4.2% in 2019-20. If the economy slows down households have less money to spend -- household consumption actually fell in 2017-18 -- which shows up in lower GST collections. "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Before the pandemic struck India." asked former finance minister P Chidambaram. "Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer." Can the government claim 'force majeure', a clause used by businesses for circumstances beyond their control? The Central government has full control of the RBI and can direct the central bank to print more money. Whether the coronavirus was released by China or is an Act of God, "Much of the problem lies with India's disastrous management of the pandemic," wrote Prof Kaushik Basu. "When the lockdown was announced on 24 March, a lot of people got hope from this early action." "Within days, it became clear that no supporting policy action and relief measures that such a major, sudden lockdown needs had been readied." "Leaving aside the lack of empathy and compassion that this policy signalled, it achieved the very opposite of what a lockdown should do. Some 4 or 5% of India's population were literally sent off like sprinklers across the nation." This is the same government that has fought and won against telecom companies on its right to claim taxes on adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which includes revenue from telecom and all other non-telecom businesses of these companies. Trying to cover incompetence. Why blame God?