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