By: Dr. Sanchita Ghatak, Associate Editor-ICN Group
LUCKNOW: A middle class salaried person that I am. I am paying almost one month’s salary as my yearly income tax. I like a natural internet addict opened google and searched for the real meaning of tax. Wonderfully Wikipedia explained me that Tax is “a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions.”
But hey , immediately below was also mentioned that it is “ a strain or heavy demand” as a noun and further to enrage my feeling of paying that hard earned one month’s salary to the government was “make heavy demands on someone” as a verb. All these word meaning and grammar is fine but my totally perturbed mind was taking me to ramble around to see the consumption of my “hard earned complete one month’s salary”.
Just two months back government told us that they have invited investors from across the globe to come to my small city and put their money in our worthy hands to make it grow so we too can see some extraordinary development all around us.
“Athithi devo bhava” (guests are next to Gods) is what we Indian believe. We have fables stating that we sleep pekish but make every effort to serve the guest as flawlessly as possible. So did our Government. I was so happy to see that my city was looking no less that Singapore or Rome.
With antique fountains in every crossing, roads perfectly carpeted and excessively clean, beautiful fresh season flowers in meticulously terracotta painted pots all over the road dividers. The sight of the lamp stand wrapped up with LED strips on the flyover I use daily almost took my breaths off making me think that have really landed in a fairy land.
I got busy with a bizarre deed of clicking my beautiful city in day and even dusk from every possible corner and send it to all my friends who have settled abroad to make them envious of the city I still reside with a vivid hope furtherance and they left for better lives and cleaner environment. As expected I started getting reactions on my social media page which made me flaunt about my stunning town all the more.
All the garbage dumping vanished overnight, the pillars and walls of the flyovers were painted with the famous architectures of the heritage of my city made me further proud. I thought in the deepest core of my heart that finally the government I chose has done something prodigious which I was looking for since I started voting. The best feeling I ever had was my little contribution by being an honest tax payer for this wistful change of my city.
To my greatest revelation the place I saw yesterday and felt proud, all of a sudden was no where to find. The antique fountain was still there but no flowing water, all the flower pots were missing, lots of disposable plates and spoons scattered all over the road. Most interestingly the led strips on the lamp stand of the flyover were also seen lacerated and I felt someone might have used real strength to jerk it out unsuccessfully resulting it to be impaired. The roads looked deserted with ripped placard and hoardings all over.
I felt betrayed. Did I pay my taxes only for a day’s pomp and show. Read the newspaper and came to know that just a couple of investors came and some MoUs have been signed and huge amount has been promised for investment. But again looking at the current situation I felt the destiny of that investment may get like what I saw has happened to the life line of my city- the river which used to flow merrily and a huge colony was also named after it making it all the more celebrated. It’s now a history. The only thing I see is hyacinths instead of water. Which was termed as most polluted water is now trash drop location. No walking tracks no food joints, nothing. It was a so called effort of making Gomti the next Sabarmati seems like an ineffectual expectation.
I am just a middle class salaried person who earns for my family’s survival and an honest tax payer, paying the taxes as honestly as possible. It’s not my will to pay but the tax is levied on me rather rightly defined in Wikipedia as a strain or heavy demand.
A news today further stirred me to my bone and blood that Tax department has warned the “Salaried Class” against wrong tax returns filing. We at least file return what about the “affluent class”. Unlike us the “Salaried Class” they show all earnings as loss and wisely use the provision of 80G (tax deduction under charity and gifts ) as their CSR initiative and get away with it lawfully.
I remember the proverb my grandmother use to say for such situation, translated as “Cats like to egest on dampened soil” I still am feeling like the dampened soil and the Big Cat looking for that wet part of the ground… “Poor Us-the Salaried Class”.
