How true it is !!!! Nani Palkhiwala eminent Lawyer wrote this on 16 January 1984.

"The picture that emerges is that of a great country in a state of moral decay. The immediate future seems to belong to the doomsayers rather than to cheer mongers. We suffer from a fatty degeneration of conscience, and the malady seems to be not only persistent but prone to aggravation. The life style of too many politicians and businessmen bears eloquent testimony to the truth of dictum that the single minded pursuit of money impoverishes the mind, shrivels the imagination and dessicates the heart.

The tricolour fluttering all over the country is black, red and scarlet
- black money, red tape and scarlet corruption."

My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day.

He has his food prepared for him.

He can eat whenever he wants, 24/7/365.

His meals are provided at no cost to him.

By the way he does not need to pay for medical insurance He visits the doctor once a year for his checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arise.

For this he pays nothing, and nothing is required of him.

He lives in a nice neighborhood in a house that is much larger than he needs, but he is not required to do any upkeep. If he makes a mess, someone else cleans it up.

He has his choice of luxurious places to sleep.

He receives these accommodations absolutely free.

He is living like a King, and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever.

All of his costs are picked up by others who go out and earn a living every day. I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me
like a brick in the head.......

My dog is like the Indian POLITICIAN

SORRY MR VICE PRESIDENT & MR/Ms GOVERNORS THE TAX PAYER CANNOT AFFORD YOU

VICE PRESIDENT.

       The constitution framing members wanted to give us an ideal frame work of governance and in their exuberance adopted the American model of vice president and superimposed it on our parliamentary model of functioning.

       The first question that arises is ‘Do we really need a VP?’ In whatever way we may look at the issue and try and apply whatever logic the answer would be a firm NO. As per the constitution the Vice President (VP) is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha and officiates as the President when the later is away from office for whatsoever reason, i.e. on tours, sickness, removal, resignation or death. The Rajya Sabha can definitely elect its own chairperson just as other elected bodies do. As regards officiating for the President temporarily, do we actually need a Vice President in waiting to officiate for a symbolic head of state? The constitution stipulates that in case the President is away the VP will officiate and if he is also not available than the speaker of the Lok Sabha – Chief Justice of India – followed by all Supreme Court judges in order of their seniority will officiate as the President in case the need arises. Hence their just does not appear to be any sanctity to the office of the Vice President.

          The Vice President is housed in a magnificent palatial bungalow and has a staff of 56 people (as per the official web site) to take care of his official and personal requirements. The staff does not include the maintenance staff of the municipal corporation, the security staff and other fringe staff who are there to ensure that the VVIP is well cared for. In addition being the second citizen of India he has personal planes to fly him around. On relinquishing office he will be provided with support staff and an official residence at New Delhi and if he so wishes another at his home town/ state capital besides the pension, medical care, security cover for self and family, as also expenses borne by the tax payer for travels within and out side the country etc for life for himself and the family. The Vice President is an expensive person to have around and the tax payer can well do without this august functionary who costs the tax-payer crores of Rupees. As was concluded above the VP is definitely not required and the office should be abolished.

GOVERNORS

              There are twenty nine Governors and seven Lieutenant Governors who perform purely ceremonial functions and are the symbolic head of the states leading a lavish life style at the poor tax payer’s expense. Each of these luminaries is housed in palatial estates which cost a small fortune to maintain and keep them in ship shape so that Their Excellencies are delighted with the surroundings. To add to the woes of the tax payer the security environment demands that the VVIPs are given extensive security cover for which at least one company (100 plus) of security personnel are deployed to guard the Raj Bhavans besides the police force deployed on the roads leading to the Raj Bhavan . All that adds up to a colossal amount of money being spent to keep the Governors in luxury and unharmed. The plight of the tax payer does not end there. There is a sizeable personnel staff to run the office and the house keeping besides expenses incurred for tours/travels, medical and post retirement benefits which are all paid for by the over burdened tax payer.

            There is no denying that in our parliamentary system there is a requirement of a titular head of state at the State level just as the President is there at the national level. The office of Governor has been trivialized by placing derelict politicians in the regal Raj Bhavans. The Raj Bhavans are also playing host to inconvenient politicians who need to be put away to pasture and are kicked upstairs to the Raj Bhavans as also tainted and incompetent ministers who need to be sidelined and kept away from public gaze temporally and in some cases permanently. The Raj Bhavans are also the rewards for docile and submissive bureaucrats and defense officers who have obediently toed the politician’s line and are privy to the inside games that they play.

ZONAL GOVERNORS

        The tax payer is paying hundreds of crores to keep these symbolic heads of States in office. Is there really a need to have so many Governors? Why don’t we consider having Zonal Governors i.e. divide the country into four/five zones and have one Governor for each zone? The zonal governor would be responsible for over seeing the affairs of the states and union territories placed under him/her. If and when the need arise for imposing President’s rule in any state an administrator/s could be appointed for the purpose and they would report to the Zonal Governor. This simple solution would save the tax payer thousands of crores. Further Raj Bhavans rendered thus surplus can be leased out to the hospitality business and lo and behold the tax payer’s burden on this account would just disappear and in all probability generate a healthy surplus.

          It is about time that we examined the above proposal rationally and do away with the wasteful expenditure ( not only for maintaining the surviving Governors but also horde of retired luminaries who are enjoying lavish post retirement at the tax payers expense. If we go in for just four/five Governors , with time the number of retired governors the tax payer will have to maintain would reduce drastically)  that is just being incurred to keep politicians of various shades happy at the poor tax payer’s expense. The proposal is likely to be scuttled by using the often repeated excuse of requiring constitutional amendment. The constitution has been amended well over hundred times, two more amendments which will benefit the citizens no end would be more than welcomed by the founding fathers and they definitely would not turn in their graves. The tax payer’s burden would be reduced by thousands of crores and the nation would more than welcome the rationalization. The powers that be would do great service to the nation if they looked beyond their own petty gains and instead gave a thought for the good of BHATAT MATA and the hapless taxpayer i.e. the aam aadmi whom they have been fooling for over six decades.

                                                                                          Surender Singh               

SORRY MADAM PRESIDENT THE TAX PAYER 

CANNOT AFFORD YOU

India is a developing country rising from the pits of subjugation, misrule, poverty, hunger and deprivation. The common man bleeds and sweats to make two ends meet and is trying to provide two square meals a day for his family by spending Rs 20/- per day (which is the spending power of 80% of the population).

In a country with so much poverty is it right and fair for the first citizen to stay in a presidential palace spread over 340 acres with 340 rooms and a floor area of over 2,00,000 sq feet. Add to the that Rastrapati Nilayam, Hyderabad spread over 90 acres and the Retreat Building, Mashobro, Simla with over 10628 sq feet space and the vast grounds attached with it. The President finds it convenient to visit the retreats at least once a year and function from there, there by moving the essential office paraphernalia for the duration of the stay and billing all expenses involved to the hapless tax payer.

The founding fathers visualized the President as the titular head of state with ceremonial powers and all decisions taken on the advice of the council of ministers. Under the circumstances is there a requirement for the first citizen to have such a large staff and office functionaries who have but to act as post office forwarding or receiving files from the concerned ministries.

The pomp and show associated with the office was a legacy of the Viceroy’s show of a reigning monarch. The British found it fit to flaunt their power by having liveried attendants under every arch of the Viceroy’s Palace, mounted horsemen escorting the royal carriage (bugey) and hundreds of menial staff to take care of the sprawling grounds. They also had the royal train exclusively for His Excellencies use with white hot priority on all rail tracks. Unfortunately our first citizens did not find it fit to prune down the pomp and show and continued with the royal practices taking it to be their perk and privilege of office, may be under the mistaken premise that in the desert of poverty we put forward an oasis of opulence to impress the visitors coming to our country as state guests.

Madam President the tax payer cannot afford this opulence of our first citizen. It is time to carry out a through audit of the expenditure being incurred and drastically cut the establishment to bare essential, there by making considerable savings. Is there a requirement for the President’s Body Guards, who are performing purely a ceremonial function a few times a year? For this the horse’s upkeep, army personal and support staff are being paid by the tax payer round the year. Do you really need them Your Excellency? Similarly the Northern and Southern retreats are a drain on the resources, as to cater for your short visits they have to be maintained round the year which costs a lot of money. Also the days of the Presidential train have gone past as you have personal jets at your disposal for your tours and travel. Why not lease out the retreats and the train to a hotel chain for an astronomical amount and the earnings from the proceeds would at least partly offset the over all expenses of Rastrapati Bhavan.

The Rastrapati Bhavan is a historic building and a small portion of it is being used by the First Family. Rest of the rooms are said to be used as guest rooms for visiting Heads of state and as offices by the Presidential staff. Should we not reexamine the requirement of guest rooms as with time, visiting Heads of State are generally staying in hotels booked by their embassies? Also the staff requirement and their need for adequate office space needs a through audit and the staff members who may have been required at some stage and have since been forgotten be reverted back to their parent ministries, there by reducing over all establishment considerably and saving the tax payer’s hard earned money.

The first citizen lays down the standard of propriety which the citizens emulate. The citizens are honestly required to pay their personal taxes as also pay for goods and services including all taxes duties etc. The first citizen’s pay is paid without deduction implying that there is no deduction of income tax as applicable to normal mortals, also there is not even a token deduction for the residence when all people paid by the Government take a small cut for accommodations provided by the state. It is also surprising that items purchased for use in the Rastrapati Bhavan are duty free and taxes are not paid by the establishment. Should the First Citizen not pay their dues to the exchequer and set an example of transparent accounting?

Finally it is amazing that The President earns a pension for life after one five year term, where as the norm in the country is pensionable service only after twenty years. . Also the president on relinquishing office has option of retaining two houses, one at New Delhi and one any where else in the country. Of course the establishment, upkeep etc required for the houses comes out of the tax payer’s pocket. Should the First citizen not set an example and refuse the pension and limit the accommodation requirement to one house instead of two.

The tax payer by no means grudges the reasonable perks and privileges of office of the President and also understands the protocol requirements which often involve putting up a show. We the taxpayers only appeal for cutting out non essential waste full expenditure which can lead to considerable savings there by freeing resources for providing basic amenities to our impoverished population.

Of late there has been considerable debate on delay in decisions by the President on clemency petitions as also some of the controversial Acts passed by State Governments which have been awaiting Her Excellencies signature for long. Procedurally the said documents have been forwarded to the concerned ministries/functionaries who have found it fit to put them in cold storage due to political compulsions. Madam, you can set an example by laying down a time frame within which the files must be returned with the endorsements, say three months. If the same is not done than Madam, every functionary serves at your pleasure! In cases where the government does not respond, you would be well within your rights to exercise your discretionary powers and dispose of the cases as you deem fit, keeping the interest of the country and provisions of the constitution in mind.

 If the First citizen sets the example of austerity and impartial functioning others will be forced to follow!          

                                                                                               Surender Singh

PS:- The President’s foreign trips in 54 months costed the tax payer 205 crores? Average of almost FOUR crores per month? What were the benefits to INDIA from these trips? Tata designed houses for poor cost Rs 40000/- Over 50000 families could have been provided houses if the President had stayed home?

SORRY SIR/MADAM THE TAX PAYER CAN"T AFFORD YOU

SORRY SIR/MADAM THE TAX PAYER CANNOT AFFORD YOU

The founding fathers of our country were noble men who identified themselves with the commoners and led a frugal life style very much akin to the citizens they were leading. Those of them who inherited riches or made monies through their profession, donated their wealth to the nation and lived a simple life with few things they could call their own. It was beyond their comprehension that leaders of India in the coming years would be any different than the mould they had set for themselves. How mistaken were they!

It is a matter of shame that the successive generation of our so called leaders have imbibed for them selves a one point program of looting the national wealth and enriching themselves and their cronies, with the tenants of good governance and personal accountability being thrown to the winds. The natural fallout of this all encompassing trait and behavior is the complete and total corrupting of not only the political leadership but also the bureaucracy and the judiciary as also various constitutional functionaries at all levels, which in turn led to the businessmen finding ways and means to make a quick buck in connivance with the bureaucrats and their political masters.

We Indians have a reputation of being ingenious and adaptable. The ingenuity is being practiced to sabotage the norms and procedures of well documented and detailed guidelines that exist in our system (largely a legacy from the British empire days) and finding ways and means to enrich them selves by favoring the psycho pants and the unscrupulous who in turn short change the nation and give us sub standard roads/bridges/projects/services etc. These elements use their ingenuity to pass on a portion of the ill-gotten gains to the babu’s and their masters and accountability and quality control are all conveniently over looked. The poor tax payer is left wondering where his hard earned money has gone as the visible gains can only being seen in the effluent life styles of our leaders, bureaucrats, contractors and of course the big businessmen.

It is ironic that this decay has percolated the leadership at all levels be it in the form of expensive bungalows, royal renovations, excessive security, five star conventions, collecting funds in the name of the party (some for party and of course some for me as I have to fight the next election) and innumerable other wasteful expenses that they all take it as their privilege, which alas are funded by the poor tax payer.

The poor tax payer has some very simple demands which any government having a semblance of good governance should be able to provide. A responsive government wherein the officials and functionaries are easily approachable be it personally, by telephone or emails and not always getting replies of Sahib is in a meeting/site/not on chair etc, hoping for a call back on telephone or answer to an email is only in the realm of dreams as such good manners are just not imbibed in the system. The tax payer is aghast at the way his money is spent recklessly often to meet narrow political aims and the money disappearing in the deep well of corruption and a trickle reaching the intended beneficiaries. The plethora of welfare schemes have become the means to enrich the babus and the politicians as also the government contractors who are mostly the relatives and cronies of the netas and the intended beneficiaries getting a miniscule fraction of the budgeted amount if at all. All the tax payers wants is that their hard earned monies be spent for the purposes intended and accounted for honestly and correctly.

The tax payer just wants a government which facilitates his daily life and not create hurdles which have to be crossed by greasing palms of the numerous functionaries. Is it too much to ask for a clean and efficient government which treats its citizens with respect and dignity and the citizen is not harassed by the all pervading corruption at every stage? Is it too much to hope for a judicial system that can provide unbiased and timely justice rather than cases being dragged on for years and often into decades by which time the lawyers and others in the system are the true beneficiaries and the litigants have been wiped out and their generation of savings and wealth has only gone into the black coat pockets?

The tax payer pays all kind of taxes and in return all he/she looks for is clean drinking water supply, reasonable electricity supply, roads without pot holes, reasonable law and order which would ensure safety of not only the leaders but also the common citizen, a police that is helpful rather than highhanded rude and arrogant. The tax payer also expects the system to be a facilitator and help him in setting up small/big business or any kind of manufacturing facility promptly and without undue harassment and delays which have become a part of the system and numerous approvals required have added to the his woes. The tax payer is also paying to see Mother India prosper and become a Great Nation once again as it was 3000 years ago, for which he/she hopes that the national wealth is spent wisely and not squandered away in keeping the leadership in the laps of luxury whereas eighty percent of the citizens find it difficult to muster two square meals.

We would do well to carry out an introspection and pause and see how low we have fallen and examine ways and means to get out of this morass before it engulfs us and we fall into the deep chasm from which there is no way of getting out. It is said that if true change is to be brought about than it must start from the top. Hence we will start from the President, VP, PM, Ministers, followed by bureaucrats and other functionaries who have all contributed in no small measure to the pitiable situation we all are in.

Surender Singh