Never Give up the LPG Subsidy

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.