Open Forum
New Delhi, 26 July 2011
Private Wealth
& Public Poverty
FROM LEAKY TAP TO
LEAKING POT
By Dharmendra Nath
(Retd-IAS Officer)
Our dream of an egalitarian society is enshrined in our Constitution.
Our Father of the Nation is a person in a loin cloth. We are a socialist,
secular, democratic republic. Professedly, that is the way we would like to be.
Unfortunately, as most of us realize between the idea and the reality falls a
big shadow. Our rose garden is riddled with too many thorns.
Our socialist progress has not thrown up results to our
general liking or in conformity with our professed aims. We find vast and
ever-increasing contrasts of economic status in our society. Not only that, we
find these glaring contrasts even between private and public life.
There are big cars and splendid houses but not proper roads
and good sanitation. In fact, some of the most luxurious private properties
adjoin very poor civic amenities and miserly transportation. Pot-holed roads
and overflowing sewage are not an uncommon sight. Gated communities of
prosperity co-exist alongside slums.
We keep blaming it on shortage of funds. There may be a fund
shortage in our country but Swiss banks are flush with our money and the money
of some other similarly placed countries. We are getting to know about it only
after the US applied pressure on the Swiss authorities.
Conspicuous consumption next to malnutrition is our bane.
This is brought into full focus at an Indian wedding. Resplendent ‘baratis’ and sumptuous feasting
contrast glaringly with vacant looks and emaciated faces of some of the crew
supporting the big show.
In fact, an Indian marriage showcases our achievements and
failures of all these years at one go. We look with satisfaction at the
expensive display, the shining lights, the expensive dresses and the latest
gadgetry. Simultaneously, we are disappointed to look at the faces of the poor
women and yes, children too, engaged for the event.
Instead of diminishing, societal contrasts are on the
increase. The level of economic activities is certainly much higher today than
before, but the contrasts too are much higher.
Earlier we had only to contend with the vestiges of the
feudal system in the countryside. But our progress has thrown up new challenges
and is uprooting some people and depriving others of their traditional
livelihoods.
Many of them are unable to readjust. Some of them are
emboldened to join the Maoist ranks. Landless labourers are a threatened
species. In a country with a population of our size these numbers are enormous.
The trickle-down effect of prosperity will certainly have
some effect. But all cannot benefit. Those with dynamism will find many more
jobs. Private charity also will play a role and relieve some distress. But this
is clearly proving inadequate.
The State has to step in in a massive way to relieve their
sufferings. For that, we need not only resources but also absence of leakages,
both on the collection and expenditure sides --- or at least their minimization
--- to put through appropriate relief programmes. These may take the shape of
re-training, economic re-enabling or even provision of doles for the totally
helpless.
If we are trying to fill a leaky pot from a leaky tap and
then dispensing the contents of that leaky pot among the beneficiaries, then
there is going to be a definite short-fall. As a country we stand in some such
situation.
Clearly, tax-evasion and corruption account for our major leakages. Tax evasion
does not allow the pot to fill up and corruption wastes away a lot of what is
collected. We need a two-pronged strategy. This is not an impossible task. We
have many achievements to our credit, both in war and peace. Only, we have to
get down to doing it.
There is a ground swell of public opinion in our favour. The
numbers in support are vast. That is a definite positive and is much more than
enough to turn the tide against tax-evaders and the corrupt few. There is no
word of sympathy when such cases come to light. Isn’t that a big positive?
We should be harnessing this right-mindedness and goodwill
among the citizenry for our cause instead of decrying and antagonizing it. That
would be a blunder. Why suppress the movement if one is not a defector to the
cause?
The vast majority, a lot of it silent, is in favour of
strong action. Those for inaction, defenders of the fortresses of leakages and
corruption can be swept away like leaves before a storm. Let us not allow the
public mood to turn into one of resignation and apathy. That would be a
disaster. Reviving the mood and re-kindling the fire may not be easy.
Let our laws be enforced and these evils will be seen flying
for cover as cockroaches and insects do in the presence of fumigation. When we
bar the hands of a legally entrusted agency we create a trust-deficit. And
trust deficit is fatal for democracy. We may think that people are not noticing
it but they do.
Besides, absence of action creates grist for the
rumour-mill. The proportions of the original sin get exaggerated and distorted
in the popular mind and becomes even more damaging than the act itself which we
sought to shield in the first place.
Therefore, let the agencies do their work. Let us not
paralyse them in the name of superior political wisdom. People will not be
silent towards the agencies even as they are not silent towards the Government.
They will voice their feelings. Our democracy allows and respects that.
Moreover, on top of that judicial scrutiny, which commands
almost universal respect in our country, too will be available. These are
enough safeguards to control any way-wardness of the system. No one centre of
power should pre-empt action.
Among other positives of the situation, steps are already
afoot to control tax-evasion. Digitisation and online transactions have helped.
The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) will make a further dent on
tax evasion. The Direct Tax Code, due to be introduced in the year 2012-13,
will make things even better. Stronger and more determined action against
corruption will make a further difference.
In sum, such steps will enhance our resources and also lead
to their efficient utilization. We will be enabled to realize our socialistic
dream. The State will be able to command the resources to wipe out the tears of
our people and do some service to the “daridra
narayana” whom the Father of the Nation placed before us as an ideal of
service. ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
|