Contradictions pullingthe country down

A number of our intents, laws and practices are in place to bring about common good. But many of them are abused and manipulated to defeat the very purpose of why they are there. We need to take a hard look at these anomalies and resolve them if we want to tread the path to progress

‘Corrupt politicians win the elections and they go on to administer our country. Sometimes we see that the man-date given by the voters is not honoured, and a different government is formed with new post poll alliances'

Every day, we witness many contradictions and ironies in life. We accept them and carry on. We consider them as nuances of life and even treat them as part of the romance of life, so as to keep ourselves happy. However, these contradictions and ironies are not only restricted to individuals but even affect our system and society and that becomes painful. For the country to grow, these aberrations need to be reconciled. This column is a humble attempt to list some of these contradictions and ironies.

Blow to democracy

Firstly, we proudly say that we are the biggest democracy in the world but can we deny that our democratic system is such that really good people do not participate in the electoral process? Winning the elections is dependent on the mathematics of caste and religion, besides the power of money and muscle. Criminals languishing in jail for heinous crimes win the elections many a time, as they have the basic attributes of being a bahubali. We all know that corruption is a very bad thing but while voting, it is a non-issue for a majority of our voters. The result is for everybody to see, that many times corrupt politicians win the elections and they go on to administer our country. Sometimes we see that the mandate given by the voters is not honoured, and a different government is formed with new post-poll alliances.

The poor taxed, the rich scot free

Second, our income tax is for taxing the income of a person. The definition of a person includes even an artificial juridical person, meaning entities like God in a temple. But it excludes our rich farmers, even those having, in some cases, income in crores of rupees and possessing high end luxury cars. There is a capital gains tax on the sale of the property, but there are no capital gains on the sale of agricultural land. There is no denying the fact that farming has to be encouraged and incentives have to be given for agriculture, but there is no logic to extend the benefit to rich farmers. There is no equality when a poor clerk is taxed and a rich farmer is excluded. This loophole in our income tax law is also a cause for parking black money in agricultural land and farmhouses.

Sins of the fathers...

Third, our reservation policy is based on the sins committed by our forefathers and the people getting affected belong to the present generation. It is always desirable to help our socially backward brethren and for this, the basic necessities should be provided to them, like facilities for education. In our skewed reservation policy based on caste, merit gets the hit. A student getting more marks and being more meritorious suffers for the sins of his upper-caste forefathers. When we need a casteless society for better harmony, caste-based reservation becomes a spoiler. Our constitution provided reservation for a limited period, but it is being practiced for a limitless period.

Fourth, while we are a populous country of about 135 crore people, we hardly produce scientists and technocrats of international repute. The same Indians go to developed countries and settle down there, and become more successful. There is no doubt that we have the potential to excel but probably we suffer due to the lack of adequate infrastructure in our country. The same thing applies to our performance in the field of sports. The number of good sportsmen is not proportionate to our big population. Much smaller countries do better than us in the fields of scientific research and sports.

Fifth, our tax base is very narrow and does not commensurate with our huge population.This means that we have to look after 135 crore people when the income earned from direct taxes is only from about six crore taxpayers. Collection from indirect tax is much less due to the mammoth tax evasion under GST. The irony is that tax evaders and corrupt people enjoy their riches and there is no social stigma against them. Our legal system is such that these tax evaders hardly go to jail, though the present government in recent times, has been successful in sending some important people to jail. The honest taxpayers get disillusioned. The disappointment of honest taxpayers is more when they see that the taxes paid on their hard-earned income is spent on populist measures for political gain by various political administrators and not for development. The honest taxpayers feel helpless as they do not have any say in the spending of the tax money contributed by them.

Land mess

Sixth, we are crying over the issue of unemployment, while we have ourselves created hurdles for our manufacturing sector, which could have created more jobs. The most important requirement for setting up a factory is land. Because of the land acquisition law of 2013, the acquisition of land to be given to set up factories has become difficult and its cost is sky-high, being four-times the market price of rural land. No manufacturing business can be cost competitive with the high cost of land. We see industrialists diverting their business out of India. Similarly, the very harsh archaic labour laws make doing business difficult. When the government tries to amend these laws, there are strikes called by the labour unions. We want jobs but we have made the setting up of factories difficult. It is an apparent contradiction.

Skewed focus

Seventh, we want robust higher education in our country but we lack in eminent educational institutions and universities comparable with those in developed countries. Even a city country like Singapore has a very strong educational infrastructure compared to us. The disappointing thing happening today is that there is decadence in our premier institutions and universities. There are more strikes and hooliganism than serious classroom studies. For example, it is really sad to cite the case of JNU, where teachers are gheraoed and students march to the Parliament for administrative matters, which could have been sorted out by dialogue. There are huge subsidies in JNU and it is the taxpayers’ money which is getting wasted. It is very painful to hear slogans against the sovereignty and integrity of the country in a premier institution like the JNU.

‘There is no denying the fact that farming has to be encouraged and incentives have to be given for agriculture, but there is no logic to extend the benefit to rich farmers. There is no equality when a poor clerk is taxed and a rich farmer is excluded’

Frivolous PILs

Eighth, we are proud of our independent judiciary as it gives strength to our vibrant democracy. The judiciary earlier evolved the concept of PIL (Public Interest Litigation) so as to adjudicate issues of the common good without going through the arduous process of litigation. The contradiction today is that a plethora of PILs are being filed on every small issue, and the same is taking much of the time of the higher courts including the Supreme Court, and this retards the normal adjudication work of the courts. Many a time, the PILs are filed with political goals in mind and not for genuine common issues of the public. Another contradiction in the judicial process is while there are many under trial prisoners languishing in jails without bail, there are many advocates who remain busy with pleas for anticipatory bails for the rich and the powerful. The end result is that equality suffers, as justice is given to the rich than to the poor.

Misplaced dissent

Ninth, while it is true that dissent is a safety valve in a democratic setup, the contradiction is that while dissenting, many of us start making such comments which ultimately hurt the interests of the country. The foreign media picks up such stories and starts writing against our country, thus discouraging potential foreign investors. Our enemy countries also pick up these stories and raise issues on international platforms against the integrity and economic interests of the country. We are proud of the constitution as it guarantees the fundamental rights of our citizens, besides many other things. Freedom of speech is one such valuable right. We use this right vociferously but in the process, we forget our constitutional duty for our motherland. A fundamental right which is not balanced by duty, hurts the country. This is an apparent irony of our democracy.

The list of contradictions and ironies is very long. The purpose of this column is to make our people introspect and find aberrations for themselves. We all know that theoretically the constitution and all envisaged laws are for the good of the country but while implementing them, contradictions crop up. These contradictions lead to a spate of litigation and thus delay the desired development. Many times, when the country is moving forward, we ourselves latch upon the contradictions and try to pull the country behind. At times, we forget that we cannot progress unless the country progresses. All the organs of our democracy have to function in complete harmony and must supplement each other with the national goal in mind.