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| Surrendering subsidies | | | Shiv Kumar Padha | 7/3/2015 10:24:11 PM |
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Example is better than percept' implies, no amount of advice or lecturing can make a lasting impression upon the minds of others unless and until a practical demonstration is given. A child was addicted to jaggary(gud), father took the child to a saint and requested him to advise the child to give up the habit of jaggary eating. The saint called both of them to his cottage many times but on their last visit he advised the child for the same. The saint told the father that he could advise the child on their first visit but alas! he himself was addicted to jaggary (gud) eatingtill their last visit, how could he advice the child?
These days the consumers of the LPG, all over the country, are receiving the SMSs " Dear HP GAS/Indian Oil gas consumers, join Nation building by giving up LPG subsidy for the benefit of the poor and needy. To give up subsidy send SMS GIVEITUP to 9766899899." It is, no doubt, a noble cause where every body, irrespective of his position, should come forward and voluntarily surrender the benefits of subsidy and other facilities which they can afford or enjoy from their pockets.
The Indian government has since independence subsidized many industries and products from fuel to food. The Indian government is giving subsidies to the people on PDS kerosene oil and domestic LPG, Fertilizer, Food Corporation of India, Electricity, PDS and Transport. According to one estimate subsidy in India amounts to 14% of country's GDP. It is estimated that 39% of the subsidized kerosene is stolen. India's subsidies have been criticized by the world bank as allegedly increasing economic inefficiency. India spends relatively little on education, health and infrastructure. Even more than 60 years after independence from almost two centuries of British rule large scale poverty remains in India which is a shameful blot on the face of India where 350-400 million are living below poverty line out of which 75% alone live in rural India. We understand that the subsidies help internally in extreme circumstances but equally they destroy productivity if overdone. The subsidies have also some fiscal effects which are detrimental for the economy of any nation because they indirectly effect the budget adversely by drawing resources away from tax yielding sectors towards the non-tax revenue potential.
For a country like ours the subsidies play a vital role in uplifting the standards of living of the people and enabling them to live as comfortable life as their counterparts live in other strata of society. The benefits of subsidies in K.oil, LPG and other commodities have proved a boon for the poorest of the poor as they could ignite their 'Choolas' and cook their meals in the teeth of the dire scarcity of other sources of fuel. Withdrawing subsidy will amount to snatching away the only benefit which they have been provided after Independence.
Subsidies in India is politicized which is destroying the Indian economy. The virus of subsidies to common people is purposefully exaggerated by governments especially by UPA and this tone is being followed by NDA also. If we study the 2013 budget and go to the section titled 'Tax Forgone' i.e KARZA MAFI then we will note that only Central Taxes subsidies to the corporate is larger than India's entire fiscal deficit. Only because it is not called subsidy doesn't mean that we should exclude it from any discussion relating to subsidies because it is as much loss to the exchequer as any other subsidy. We should scrutinize the necessity and utility of all corporate subsidies in the way we do for all other subsidies.
For the corporate KARZA MAFI India government waived 5,72,923 crores in 2013-24 which is a tax payers' money and amounts to Rs.5000per citizen close to three times the amount said to have been lost in 2G scam, almost 5 times the budget earmarked for Public Distribution System, over 15 times what has been allotted for NREGA budget. Giving subsidies to the corporates and taking away from the needy and deserving will be construed as a cruel joke with the poor and the deserving citizens of India.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request over 3 lac i.e. .35% Indians have given up their LPG subsidy. Intention behind the request isclear that the government wants to do away withsubsidies for the well of people and spend those additional resources on the marginalized section of society. Looking at the positive response of such a huge section of people one can guess many more are going to forego this subsidyin the coming days. But the question arises why the process of surrendering subsidies should start from a common man and why not from our honorable MLAs and MPs. Do these MLAs and MPs hail from a poor background. The association for democratic reforms (ADR)report on the number of crorepati MPs in the Lok Sabha throws some startling revelations that 82% of MPs i.e. 442 MPs are crorepaties in the parliament of India.
Recently our prime Minister Narendra BhaiModi dined at the Parliament canteen for which he paid Rs. 29 for a veg. Thali (dal, subji, 4 chapaties, rice/pulao curd and salad. Looking at the rates of the contents of the thali, these so called custodian of the nation are served in the parliament canteen, one is astonished how the poor man's money is being doled out to our public representatives. It is ridiculous categorization in India, 'The higher up you are on the ladder, the cheaper the price of amenities'. It is pertinent to mention here that the parliament canteen is run by Indian Railways where train supplies department charges Rs. 60 for a small packet of veg. Biryani irrespective of the class they travel. According to PM Modi,"A government doesn't belong to any group but works for all 125 crore people of the country. Improving every one's lives is the priority of the government."
I am all in for non-deserving people giving up their subsidies and it should start with our Hon'ble MPs and MLAs, who, in addition to their monthly salaries (which amounts to lacs of rupees p.m) get 1. Additional compensation for session days. 2. Constituency allowance. 3. Office expances. 4. Dearness allowancs. 5. 50000 free units of power. 6. 170000 free telephone calls. 7. Free bunglow, AC, Ref.,TV, furniture, curtains, covers, washing allowance (in thousands). Free air travel with spouse in business class. The list of the perks and the allowances is too long to be contained in the column. While the country got rid of hundreds of kings ruling the country before independence, the nation was burdened with the thousands of democratic kings afterwards, who, instead of proving assets for the country have become white elephants for the developing country where crores of people still dwell on the foot paths, in the concrete pipes, who still feed on the 'joothan' thrown by the people on the garbage heaps, who still compete with the dogs to pick up the thrown 'joothan' first. Our Leaders who hesitate touch the poor people even with the tongs should realize that the merriments they are making is being given from the share of poorman's medicines, education, loaf of bread, the clothes of the naked, and if they have an iota of sense they should come forward and forego the subsidized meals they are brazenly relishing in the parliament canteen because they are the least deserving people to get subsidy. They should always keep one golden rule in mind, 'Charity always begins at home'. |
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