Yesterday, while going through the newspaper as my morning choir, an advertisement at
the corner of one page caught my attention. The Prime Minister of India is
asking all the civilians to relinquish the LPG subsidy provided by the Government,
which we all currently do benefit from. If we give up the subsidy, it would
supposedly help one of the underprivileged houses to have a cooking gas
connection. There was also a footnote
that around 23 million people in India have already given up their subsidized
amount for each LPG cylinder.
While I salute to each and every one of these 23 million and in principle, truly support the
intention of the government to help out the people in need, I am not really
convinced how my forgoing of subsidy would help someone to light up the ‘chulha’ at his house, as it is being
showcased. He still needs to pay for the gas connection; he still needs to pay the
subsidized amount for each cylinder he consumes. He will not get it for free
because of me surrendering my subsidy. Incidentally there were no statistics available
anywhere to show how many underprivileged houses have actually received this
facility with the additional income to the government by selling the gas
cylinders at a non-subsidized amount to these 23 million brave souls.
I have given it a thought. While I have every intention to support the
poor and underprivileged, I am not going to forgo my LPG subsidy. I may seem
heartless and selfish, but I have my own reasons.
In this country it is really ridiculous that always I, the common man, am
actually asked to surrender the subsidy while on the other hand it is me who
ends up paying for everything and paying everything.
I have to sweat it out hard for each every penny I earn. And then I am
levied with income tax, directly deducted from my salary and goes to the
government treasury. Neither I can spend on myself nor do some shopping with complete
liberty. If I do, I have to provide a value added tax on the goods I purchase.
It is like plain robbery in a broad daylight. I go and eat in a restaurant with
my family. I make a phone call. I browse internet. I watch television through a
service provider. I book ticket for my vacation trip. Whatever I do for my own
comfort and enjoyment using my own hard earned money I pay a service tax to which
goes only to one direction, north. Then I buy a house for my family. I
end up paying the government a significant stamp duty and registration fee. Then
I keep on paying them a property tax year on year. I pay corporation tax for
the water I consume, for the road on which I drive or walk, perhaps even for
the air I breathe?
On the other hand, the politicians and government officials, mostly
everyone, live in a government provided quarters or a lavish bungalow, based on
the position or rank he holds. The maintenance and upkeep for these thousands
of properties come from my pocket, from the tax that I pay. Our president lives
in a palatial mansion with hundreds of rooms. I humbly ask why? Why can he not
stay in his own home since he has one? Why should I need to pay my hard earned
money attending to his comforts? Why can’t the palace be declared as a museum
and the upkeep comes from the entry fees? Why can’t these government
officials stay in their own houses or even rent one and do their duties? Why
can they not forgo this particular privilege bestowed upon them? They can then
channelize the same tax based incomes from me to the welfare of the society.
Adding insult to injury, all facilities for these guys are free - phone
electricity internet television – everything. Well, it is free for them but
eventually in reality all cost is borne by me. They can incur thousands of
rupees of in bills and I keep paying for it. Why can they not pay their own
bills? And with service tax too? Why must they enjoy these benefits? These are
nothing but subsidies only, the prime difference being the subsidy amount is of
100% and comes out of my pocket, who does not have any relation with you?
Many government officials are allotted a car and relish free fuels. Why
can they not pay for the fuels they consume for their own work from their own pockets?
One may say that they are doing the duties to the nation but that is exactly
their job, they are not doing charity or any favor to us. And moreover they
get paid for it. Then why do I
need to keep paying for it too?
They sneeze and get the best of the medical facilities, anywhere in the country
for free. When a probe is launched against these ‘active’ officials, they get
admitted to the best of the hospitals and keep wasting our money.
High ranked officials like our Pirme Minister and President always enjoy
business class trips for every journey they embark on, however small it is.
Even the mere pawns of the government get a free first class train ticket for
their travel. Who bears the cost of this luxury but me?
If,
hypothetically, these privileges are given up by these creatures, everyone in
the country will gladly surrender the mere LPG subsidy, and perhaps we don’t
even need to.
In reality
though, on the contrary, it is these politicians create a raucous and hue and
cry in the parliaments every now then demanding the salary hike every now and
then and waste multiple sessions of the parliament, where they are elected to
represent the problems of the mass and shout for them. Surprisingly, the demand
for salary hike is passed unanimously, both oppositions and the ruling parties
alike, because of inflation. It is them who are
supposed to but can not control the inflation but do not need to bear the brunt
of it. But it is me is who is at the receiving end. They get higher income from the money of the
tax payers like us who are suffering to the worst for the inflation that they
are unable to keep in check. What an irony.
On election campaigns billions and billions are spent. Never ever a
politician cuts a single one of these campaigns short and donates the excess
money to the poor for whom they shout.
The parliamentarians enjoy a one rupee coffee and fifteen rupee biriyani
everyday. This food is subsidized – around fifteen crore rupees per year
is subsidized for the government. But why is no one bothered about fifteen
crore subsidy per year on the parliament canteen? I am now paying for my food
and feeding you guys from my pocket. Stop this subsidy; start paying for what a
meal is actually worth, like me, you hypocrites and then talk to me about the
LPG subsidy.
Most of these shameless loosers have declared crores worth of asset which they possibly could never afford, had they only survived on their salaries. Still we don't hear any politician has ever donated a single penny to the welfare of the poor, rather their relatives reap all the benefits.
Thousands of crores of taxpayers money is wasted to keep the filthy
criminals like Kasab alive. We can rather have bastards like him dead as soon
as possible and use that money to provide LPG connections to the needy brethren of our society.
I have never seen a minister, MP, MLA or even a local corporator or a
councillor making a donation of a single penny to the poor. I am quite certain
that not any of these guys have given up their LPG subsidy. These guys are like
leeches who suck the blood out of the flesh from the civilians by accepting
bribe for running even a small errand for a common man, something he is
supposed to do as part of his job profile. We just keep paying them because we
are helpless. These are vultures who do not even spare the dead ones.
The day government declares that all these unashamed creatures have
renounced their LPG subsidy I will be the first person to happily give up mine.
No one tries to bring back the black money stashed abroad. Bring it back
and no one will remain hungry in our country, no one will be ever without a gas
connection, no one will be without a roof on their heads.
Till then, I will not forgo my LPG subsidy.
