• Prakash Pohare

How is money deposited in the government treasury? You need not be an economist to understand this. Millions of people working in private or government jobs get salary from their jobs, the government deducts TDS on it. The business class collects taxes from various businesses and pays those taxes to the government and the money goes to the government treasury. There are crores of people whose income comes from TDS i.e. tax deduction at source. Apart from this, there are crores of people who do all their business completely through ‘bills’ and collect tax for the government by levying GST on it. Black money starts from where you make the payment but no bill is generated against it. However, there are millions of people who collect and pay dozens of types of taxes including GST, VAT, TDS, Income Tax, Registration Tax (Stamp Duty), Excise, Custom Duty, Road Tax, Toll Tax, Property Tax, etc. The government treasury is filled with such taxes. This is simple mathematics.

Toll tax on roads has been increased. Tax on four wheelers and two wheelers has been increased by about 60 percent. On the other hand, heavy taxes have been imposed on all agricultural products, food items, grains and even milk, curd, buttermilk etc., which never existed before. The government is increasing taxes everywhere. It just wants to loot with both hands. The target for GST alone was set at Rs. 80 thousand crore per month, while Rs. 1 lakh 85 thousand crore per month, i.e. Rs. 22 lakh crore per year is collected from GST alone, despite this the rates of GST are not reduced, while the income from other taxes mentioned above is different.

Subsidy on chemical fertilizers has been reduced and heavy GST has been imposed on it. At the same time, railway fares have been increased drastically, so where does this saved money go? On top of that, the government has stopped all subsidies like kerosene subsidy, petrol subsidy, gas subsidy, agriculture subsidy etc. Student scholarships have been stopped. Pension has been stopped. Fertilizer subsidy has been reduced. The source of government revenue is the common public. On one hand, money is being collected from the common people, while on the other hand, all the facilities and concessions being given to them have been stopped.

On the other hand, the government has kept the tax rate on industrialists and companies very low. India is one of the countries in the world which collects the lowest tax from businessmen. The tax amount is already low, on top of that, tax exemption of about ten to fifteen lakh crore rupees is given to industrialists every year. In 2009-10, the company tax was 39 percent, which has now been reduced to 24 percent from 2021-22.

It is also important to briefly note here how India’s tax system is moving in the opposite direction. The principle of taxing higher incomes at a higher rate is universally accepted. In the US, 50 per cent of government revenue is paid by the top 5 per cent taxpayers, while the remaining 50 per cent is paid by the bottom 25 per cent citizens, but this principle applies to direct taxes. Basically, in India, indirect taxes, which fall on everyone as consumers, are much higher than direct taxes. So even the poorest taxpayer, i.e. a beggar, pays GST!

In 2013, the money collected through all taxes was 10 lakh crores, but now it has become 26 lakh crores and the budget of the central government is about 48 lakh crores. While the budget of the state governments is 6 lakh crores.

On the one hand, the government provides subsidies to countless ineligible people. The deficit budget and universal inflation are persistent. The rich can afford inflation, but the poor have to bear the brunt of it. The poor are also being harassed as taxpayers. So, it is not anti-equality to favour taxpayers in India.

Tax should be like ‘salt in flour’, but at present it has become like ‘flour in salt’(an expression to say that it should ideally be something tolerable but is actually not). Big taxpayers (corporate and individual) also put the burden of their taxes on suppliers, workers and consumers. This is taking away the wealth of the lower level. This has become the ‘class’ character of the ‘taxpayer’. Now it is important to think how much money is collected and on what it is spent!

The country cannot be run by giving speeches. It requires money, but where will it come from? Goods and Services Tax (GST) was promoted as one country and one tax, but petrol and diesel were not included in it because the highest tax rate of GST is 28 percent. If that rate is applied to petrol and diesel, then you will get diesel and petrol for a maximum of 50-55 rupees. That is why it has been kept out of the scope of GST. Then an arbitrary tax i.e. VAT (Value Added Tax) has been imposed on it, which is currently more than 100 percent.

The Central Government has earned Rs. 40 lakh crore from the excise duty imposed on petrol and diesel in the last six years. In the last one month of this year, the government has collected Rs. 89 thousand crores from tax on petrol and diesel, this one figure shows that petrol and diesel are like a mine to extract money for the government. The policy of the government is ‘impose tax and collect money’. The most important thing is that this tax is collected from the common people on the purchase of petrol and diesel. As a result, the cost of transportation increases the inflation rate. That is, where is the money coming into the government treasury from personal income tax, corporate tax, goods and services tax, excise duty, customs duty, fuel tax etc. going? This has become a real subject of research. On top of this, a huge debt has increased on the country.

In 2004, the debt on the Indian government was only 17 lakh crore rupees. By 2014, it became 55 lakh crore rupees. During the 10 years of BJP rule from 2014 to 2024, the country’s debt has increased to more than 210 lakh crores, which is four times in the last 10 years. Assuming a population of 142 crores, each citizen has a debt of about 1 lakh 47 thousand rupees to the central government. In 2014, the debt on the state of Maharashtra was 50 thousand crores, which, in these ten years has increased to 9 lakh crores. The population of the state is 12 crores, that is, every person in the state has a debt of 75 thousand rupees, that is, every citizen of the state has a debt of 2 lakh 22 thousand rupees.

On one hand, the government is collecting huge amounts of money from the public in the form of taxes as mentioned above, saving money by stopping subsidies and on the other hand, it is taking loan after loan. The public was not even informed about the continuous stopping of concessions, grants, student scholarships etc. So where did the money saved from subsidies and the huge amount collected through taxes and loans go?

In terms of GNP i.e. ‘Gross National Product’ and GDP i.e. ‘Gross Domestic Product’, Indian economy has become the fifth largest economy in the world, but when the government is beating the drum, why don’t the common people get to taste the fruits of this development? This needs to be looked into.

The government works according to the Constitution which states that ‘it is the duty of the state to raise the nutrition and standard of living of the citizens, improve public health, maintain education and law and order’, which is an important section of the Indian Constitution. Today, in view of the increasing crime, rape, and deteriorating law and order in the country, there is a need to remind the state and central government of this section. Shouldn’t the government’s goal be to decide whom to give priority to? The money that is deposited in the government treasury for public welfare is spent on various works like loan waivers for industrialists, tax waivers for them, taking tenders for Samriddhi Highway, upcoming Shakti Peeth Highway or other unnecessary projects, cement roads, bullet trains, because a huge commission is taken in this. The debt is on the state, on the country, on you and us in turn, but the simple calculation is that the cream of the commission goes into the pockets of the party, ministers, workers, officers and favourite industrialists.

On the other hand, according to the government data, about 19 crore people in our country are malnourished. India ranks 94th among 107 countries in the World Hunger Index. The rate of malnourished people in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is less than that in India. Our government provides free food to 80 crore people, the condition of our country has become so bad. The government has brought the middle class to the point of standing in queues at ration shops because a large number of people have lost their jobs. Government recruitments are closed, Zila Parishad, Municipal Corporation schools are closed because the government does not have money to pay salaries, but the government wants to spend money on the futile schemes like ‘Laadki Behen - Ladaaka Bhau and Tirth Yatra’ because they want to do so. After winning votes, they are ready to sit on the chair and enjoy the cream again. In this, the public or the country, everything is gone to hell... This is the simple ideology of BJP. Providing electricity, water, healthcare, schools, security and other facilities to the people is the ‘main responsibility’ of any government, but the Modi government is not spending money on this. If instead of treating the disease, some other organ is treated, then how can the disease be cured? Why backwardness does not go away from the country even after so many years! Demands for concessions by various social classes continue. Why?

No BJP government, no university, no institution, even the opposition party is studying the fact that why poverty has not been eradicated yet? It is clear that they do not need to understand the basic problem.

There are two classes living in India at the same time. One is the looter and the other is the looted! But the real concern is that the government is also included in these looters. Now the responsibility of changing this depends on those who are being looted today. Now that opportunity has come whether to take advantage of it or let it go like this.

(The author is the editor of Marathi daily ‘Deshonnati’, Hindi daily ‘Rashtra Prakash’ and weekly ‘Krishakonnati’)

The author can be contacted on 9822593921.