As the Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll-out completed one year today, handloom workers from Gorakhpur on Sunday shared problems they have been facing since the implementation of the indirect tax. Calling the GST a 'failure', the workers said that the situation had worsened to such an extent that many people in the handloom industry lost their jobs and several were forced to sell their looms and open tea shops and other small distances.

"I was working in handloom, after GST our machines sold. We became jobless. I did not have any option, had to run a family, I now run a poultry shop," Nabi Ahmed, a handloom worker said. They also claimed that contrary to what the Central Government had ensured, their businesses have hit an all-time low post the implementation of GST and it has become increasingly difficult to sell their products.