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मिडिल क्लास के लिए किसने क्या किया: भाजपा देता है कांग्रेस सरकारों को 30-0 से मात

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3 January 2019

मिडिल क्लास के लिए किसने क्या किया: भाजपा देता है कांग्रेस सरकारों को 30-0 से मात

छत्तीसगढ़, मध्य प्रदेश और राजस्थान के विधानसभा चुनावों में भाजपा को मिली हार को लेकर काफी कुछ लिखा जा चुका है और इस पर भी काफी बहस चल रही है कि सभी राजनितिक दलों द्वारा नजरअंदाज किये जाने वाले मध्यम वर्ग को भाजपा ने भी निराश किया है। दशकों से मध्यम वर्ग के वोटरों साथ ऐसा व्यवहार होता रहा है जैसे किसी सौतेले बच्चे को अक्सर उसके परिवार में उसके हिस्से से वंचित कर दिया जाता है। हलांकि कांग्रेस ने हमेशा से इस वर्ग को नजरअंदाज किया है, भाजपा ने हमेशा से इनका ख्याल रखा है।

जब कांग्रेस को इस बात का अंदेशा हो गया कि राजनैतिक रूप से काफी निर्णायक वोटरों का समूह मध्यम वर्ग चुनावों में भाजपा के लिए वोट कर रहा है, उसने धूर्ततापूर्वक ऐसी बनावटी धारणा को हवा देने की कोशिश की जिससे मध्यम वर्ग का भाजपा से जुड़ाव ख़त्म हो जाये। हलांकि ऐसी धारणाओं को लगातार बल देने की कोशिश की गई लेकिन इसके उलट कांग्रेस ने बंद कमरों में जीएसटी की दरों में कटौती का कड़ा विरोध किया, जिस से मध्यम वर्ग को भारी फायदा होने वाला है।

मध्यम वर्गीय वोटर लन्दन के मौसम की भविष्यवाणी की तरह होते हैं- एकदम सही और भावी-सूचक। यूँ तो इस दुष्प्रचार के कारण भाजपा के वोट शेयर में हुई क्षति को पूरी तरह से नजरअंदाज भी नहीं किया जा सकता, लेकिन इसके बावजूद भी मध्यम वर्ग व्यापक रूप से भाजपा के साथ ही बना रहा। अब जब 2019 के आम चुनावों के लिए ज्यादा समय नहीं बचा है, ये जरूरी हो जाता है कि हम निष्पक्ष रूप से इस बात की पड़ताल करें कि आखिर भाजपा ने अपने साढ़े चार सालों के कार्यकाल में मध्यम वर्ग के लिए क्या-क्या किया है और इसकी तुलना इस से की जाये कि कांग्रेस ने अपने 10 सालों के कार्यकाल में इस महत्वपूर्ण वर्ग के लिए क्या किया था।

मतदाताओं का व्यवहार को चार तरीकों से पढ़ा जा सकता है:

मत प्रतिशत का पैटर्न (गणितीय विश्लेषण)
मूलभूत विश्लेषण (प्रमुख घटनाएँ)
चुने गए नमूने को फायदा पहुंचाती असल उपलब्धि (जैसे- मध्यम वर्ग को)
अनुभूति विश्लेषण

यहाँ हम तीसरे बिंदु कि पड़ताल करेंगे यानी कि हमारे द्वारा चुने गए नमूने माध्यम वर्ग के लिए किये गए कार्य।

यहाँ हमने एक प्रक्रिया अपनाया है जिसमे हम 11 श्रेणियों में बाँटे गए 30 मापदंडों का अध्ययन करेंगे जिस से कांग्रेस और भाजपा सरकारों के द्वारा मध्यम वर्ग के लिए किये गए कार्यों की आपस में तुलना की जा सके।

वित्त, निवेश और कर-प्रणाली
सबसे पहले हम जिन मापदंडों का अध्ययन करेंगे वह है वित्त, निवेश और कर-व्यवस्था। यहाँ हम जिन चीजों को देखेन्हे वो है- इनकम टैक्स छूट, वस्तु एवं सेवा कर (जीएसटी), शेयर बाजार का व्यवहार, विदेशी मुद्रा भण्डार, 80C और 80D कटौतियाँ।

टैक्स वाला भाग किसी भी माध्यमवर्गीय कर्मचारी के वेतन प्रारूप का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण अंग होता है। एक अच्छी कर-प्रणाली किसी भी कर्मचारी की बचत को बेहतर बनाने में मदद करती है और अंततः उसकी जीवन-प्रणाली को सुधारती है। सेक्शन 80C करदाताओं को इस बात की अनुमति देता है कि वो अपने निवेश की जानकारी देकर टैक्सेबल इनकम में कटौती कर सकें। जबकि सेक्शन 80D मेडिकल बीमा के रूप में चुकाए गए प्रीमियम के लिए कटौती की अनुमति देता है। निवेश के ये अलग-अलग मॉड्यूल बजट में वापस योगदान करते हैं और देश की समग्र अर्थव्यवस्था को बेहतर बनाने में मदद करते हैं। यहाँ हमें ये पता चलता है कि सभी मापदंडों में वर्तमान भाजपा सरकार पिछली कांग्रेस सरकार की उपलब्धियों को पार करती है।

बीमा
अगर हम 2016 के वैश्विक बीमा उद्योग की तुलना करें तो हम पाएँगे कि चीन 2016 में 466 बिलियन डॉलर के बाजार राजस्व के साथ शीर्ष 5 उभरते देशों का नेतृत्व करता है, जो कि भारत की तुलना में लगभग छः गुना अधिक है। अगर हम संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका और यूनाइटेड किंगडम जैसे पूर्ण विकसित देशों के साथ तुलना करें तो पता चलता है कि भारत जैसे देशों के विकास के लिए बीमा बाजार एक खुला स्थान है।

अब हमारा अगला मापदंड आता है जो है बीमा। यहाँ हम लिखित बीमा प्रीमियम और बीमा प्रीमियम के नवीनीकरण में वृद्धि की आपस में तुलना करेंगे।

अगर देश में एक मजबूत बीमा प्रणाली हो तो उस से अर्थव्यवस्था में काफी हद तक बचत होगी।

स्वास्थ्य सुविधाएँ
भारत वर्तमान में स्वास्थ्य पर अपने सकल घरेलू उत्पाद (GDP) का कुल 4.2 प्रतिशत खर्च करता है। 2013 में पब्लिक सेक्टर का स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं में योगदान सिर्फ 1% था जो कि विश्व में सबसे कमतर में से एक था। समय रहते सरकार ने इस जरूरत को पहचाना और स्वास्थ्य क्षेत्र में भारी निवेश किया। इसकी वजह से अब स्वास्थ्य क्षेत्र बाजार 16% के सीएजीआर की दर से बढ़ रहा है और अगर स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं में निवेश और खर्च में वृद्धि जारी रही तो 2020 तक इसके 280 डॉलर तक पहुँचने की उम्मीद है।

मोदी सरकार ने राष्ट्र में स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं में सुधार के लिए महत्वपूर्ण प्रयास किए हैं। प्रधानमंत्री जन आरोग्य योजना ने अस्पताल में भर्ती कवरेज, असंक्रामक रोगों के लिए स्वास्थ्य सेवा और करोड़ों भारतीय नागरिकों को चाइल्डकैअर सुविधाएँ प्रदान की हैं।

जब हम स्वास्थ्य सुविधाओं की बात करते हैं तो शिशु मृत्यु दर (प्रति हजार जन्मों में मृत्यु की संख्या) और मातृत्व लाभ की तुलना करना जरूरी हो जाता है। भाजपा शासन के दौरान आईएमआर की गिरावट 13.97% है जबकि कांग्रेस शासन के दौरान यह आंकड़ा 13.68% रहा था।

रेलवे विद्युतीकरण
अगले मापदंडों में हम रेलवे विद्युतीकरण, कुल ब्रॉड गेज रेलवे ट्रैक और नए रेलवे ट्रैक बिछाने की दर की तुलना करते हैं। सुरेश प्रभु के कार्यकाल के दौरान रेलवे के आधुनिकीकरण और पीयूष गोयल के नेतृत्व में परियोजनाओं के त्वरित कार्यान्वयन ने रेलवे की महत्वपूर्ण प्रगति में काफी मदद की है। मेट्रो ट्रांजिट सिस्टम, बुलेट ट्रेन, हाइपरलूप और अन्य हाई-स्पीड रेल परियोजनाएँ भी पाइपलाइन में हैं।

इस दर पर भारतीय रेलवे बाजार वैश्विक रेलवे बाजार का 10% यानी कि तीसरा सबसे बड़ा बाजार होगा और मेट्रो रेल 70% के साथ भारत के कुल रेलवे बाजार का सबसे बड़ा हिस्सा होगा।

भाजपा सरकार ने इन संभावनाओं की पहचान करने में काफी सफलता प्राप्त की है और रेलवे में भारी निवेश किया है। यूपीए कार्यकाल में लालू प्रसाद यादव और ममता बनर्जी जैसे बड़े नेताओं के रेलवे मंत्री होने के बावजूद दोनों सरकारों के बीच अंतर बहुत बड़ा है।

परिवहन
शीर्ष अर्थशास्त्री जगदीश भगवती ने कहा था; “विकास में वृद्धि के लिए लिए, हमें यह वादा करना होगा कि भारत व्यापार और एफडीआई (प्रत्यक्ष विदेशी निवेश) के लिए और अधिक खुलेगा”। व्यापार में सुधार के लिए हमें देश में आधुनिक और बुनियादी सुविधाओं की काफी आवश्यकता है। कुल मिलाकर देखा जाये तो भारत को 2022 तक 50 ट्रिलियन रुपए (777.73 बिलियन डॉलर) के निवेश की जरूरत है।

अभी परिवहन क्षेत्र में काफी कुछ किया जाना बाकी है क्योंकि राष्ट्रीय राजमार्ग की सिर्फ 24% सड़कें ही चार-लेन वाली सड़कें हैं। केंद्रीय सड़क एवं परिवहन मंत्री नितिन गडकरी ने कहा है कि यदि सभी परियोजनाएँ समय पर पूरी हो जाती हैं तो परिवहन क्षेत्र में 15 लाख नौकरियों के सृजन करने की क्षमता है और उनका मंत्रालय भारत की जीडीपी में 2 प्रतिशत का योगदान देगा। इसके अलावे परिवहन मंत्रालय ने परिवहन लागत को कम करने के लिए जलमार्ग को सर्वोच्च प्राथमिकता दी है।

इस तालिका से यह साफ़ हो जाता है कि नितिन गडकरी के नेतृत्व में राजमार्गों के निर्माण के मामले में अभी की भाजपा सरकार पिछली कांग्रेस सरकार को मीलों पीछे छोड़ देती है। पूर्वोत्तर भारत में गंगा कायाकल्प परियोजना और सड़कों की पहुँच ने भी परिवहन क्षेत्र में काफी ऊँचाइयों को प्राप्त किया है।

महंगाई और पेट्रोलियम उत्पादों के मूल्य
आगे बढ़ते हुए अब हम मुद्रास्फीति, सकल राजस्व – सकल व्यय और पेट्रोलियम कीमतों की तुलना करते हैं। इसमें कोई दो राय नहीं है कि भाजपा को एक घटती अर्थव्यवस्था विरासत में मिली है और इसे ठीक करने के लिए उसने अच्छा काम किया है। 2013 और 2014 में सीपीआई मुद्रास्फीति क्रमशः 10.21% और 9.49% थी। वर्तमान में 2018 के लिए यह औसतन 3.58% है जो कि 2015 के उच्च स्तर (5.97%) से नीचे आ रहा है। 2015 में प्रधान मंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की विदेश यात्राओं ने सऊदी अरब जैसे देशों के साथ एक मजबूत संबंध बनाने में मदद की है। प्रधानमंत्री द्वारा उठाया गया यह कदम तेल के मामले में बहुत महत्वपूर्ण था क्योंकि गैस उद्योग भारत के चोटी के छह उद्योगों में से एक है। यह उद्योग भारत के सकल घरेलू उत्पाद में लगभग 15% योगदान देता है। (आँकड़ों में रिफाइनिंग, परिवहन और विपणन लागत शामिल हैं।)

इस तथ्य से यह बात स्पष्ट है कि सऊदी अरब के विदेश मंत्री ने भारत को दिए जाने वाले तेल की कीमतों में संशोधन पर विचार किया है। साथ ही, राष्ट्र के राजकोषीय घाटे को राष्ट्र की अर्थव्यवस्था में सुधार के लिए पर्याप्त नियंत्रण में रखा गया है।

अपराध और भ्रष्टाचार
अपराध और भ्रष्टाचार पैरामीटर को देखने पर पाता चलता है कि भ्रष्टाचार सूचकांक में गिरावट आई है और हिंसक अपराधों में भी कमी आई है। महिलाओं के खिलाफ अपराधों के लिए दर्ज मामलों में भी कमी आई है। नरेंद्र मोदी के प्रधानमंत्री के रूप में पदभार संभालने के बाद से केंद्र सरकार में भ्रष्टाचार या असंगतता का एक भी मामला नहीं आया है। सभी खुफिया एजेंसियों और अजित डोभाल के रूप में एक मजबूत एनएसए के प्रभावी संचार के कारण देश भर में पिछले साढ़े चार सालों से कोई बड़ा आतंकी हमला नहीं हुआ है।

परफॉरमेंस पैरामीटर
देश ने अपनी नीतियों में सुधार कर के ईज ऑफ डूइंग बिजनेस की सूची में सफलतापूर्वक 77 वां स्थान दर्ज किया है। प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की विदेश यात्राओं ने कई देशों के साथ कई क्षेत्रों में हस्ताक्षरित एमओयू की सहायता से संबंध सुधारने में मदद की है। सरकार ने अकेले 2018 में 150 से अधिक एमओयू पर हस्ताक्षर किए हैं और इन एमओयू के निष्पादन को सर्वोच्च प्राथमिकता दे रही है।

तकनीक का अंगीकरण
मैकिन्से ग्लोबल इंस्टीट्यूट की एक रिपोर्ट का कहना है कि भारतीय अर्थव्यवस्था में 2025 तक जीडीपी में 1 ट्रिलियन डॉलर जोड़ने की क्षमता है।

मैकिन्से ग्लोबल इंस्टीट्यूट (एमजीआई) ने आगे बताया कि भारत का डिजिटल सूचकांक 2014-2017 के दौरान 18 से 29 हो गया यानि कि इसमें 56 प्रतिशत की बढ़ोतरी दर्ज की गई। इसने भारत को 17 उभरती और परिपक्व डिजिटल अर्थव्यवस्थाओं में वृद्धि के मामले में दूसरे स्थान पर रखा है। यह केवल इसलिए संभव हो पाया है क्योंकि मोदी सरकार डिजिटल इंडिया जैसी योजनाओं को लागू कर रही है।

तेजी से बदल रही तकनीक के जमाने में प्रौद्योगिकी को अपनाना किसी भी नए युग की सरकार के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण फैक्टर है। अब हम प्रत्येक सरकार द्वारा प्रौद्योगिकी अपनाने की तुलना करेंगे। वर्तमान भाजपा की अगुवाई वाली सरकार ने देश भर में 66% टीवी निवेश और 83.5 करोड़ दर्शकों के साथ इस क्षेत्र में प्रगति की है।

शिक्षा
भारत में शिक्षा क्षेत्र 2019 तक 101.1 बिलियन अमेरिकी डॉलर तक पहुंचने का अनुमान है। दुनिया की 5-24 साल की आयु वर्ग की सबसे बड़ी आबादी भारत में है और साथ ही यहाँ एक बड़ी अंग्रेजी बोलने वाली आबादी भी है (2017 में सूचकांक के अनुसार भारत अंग्रेजी दक्षता में 80 देशों में से 27 वें स्थान पर था। भारत में शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में मांग-आपूर्ति का एक बहुत बड़ा अंतर है।

सरकार ने शैक्षिक क्षेत्र में 100% एफडीआई, राष्ट्रीय प्रत्यायन नियामक प्राधिकरण बिल, विदेशी शिक्षा बिल एवं कई और सुधारों की एक श्रृंखला शुरू की है।

मोदी सरकार ने स्कूलों में डिजिटल प्लेटफार्मों को से जोड़ कर प्राथमिक शिक्षा प्रणाली में भी काफी सुधार किया है। केंद्र सरकार द्वारा प्राथमिक शिक्षा को अधिक किफायती बनाया गया है जो नामांकन में वृद्धि का प्रमुख कारण है। इसके साथ ही, डिजिटल स्कूलों के आगमन से बच्चे अब भारी बैगों को ढो कर ले जाने को मजबूर नहीं हैं। मोदी सरकार ने निजी स्कूली शिक्षा को भी अधिक किफायती बनाया है।

जीएसटी से सुधार
हमने 1200 से अधिक वस्तुओं में से सिर्फ 2 का उल्लेख किया है, जिन पर कांग्रेस सरकार के दौरान 31% या अधिक कर लगाया गया था। जबकि सब जीएसटी के 28% वाले स्लैब में सिर्फ 27 चीजें है।

निष्कर्ष
जैसा कि आपने अभी तक देखा, हमने एक कार्यप्रणाली तैयार की, जहां हमने 30 अलग-अलग श्रेणियों को 11 अलग-अलग मापदंडों में विभाजित किया, ताकि दोनों सरकारों ने मध्यम वर्ग के लिए क्या किया है, इसकी तुलना की जा सके। हमारे विश्लेषणों से यह पता चलता है कि भाजपा सभी मापदंडों पर कांग्रेस से बेहतर थी, इसीलिए भाजपा के पक्ष में स्कोर 30-0 होता है।

हमारी कार्यप्रणाली प्रभावी है क्योंकि हमने केवल गणितीय डेटा (तकनीकी विश्लेषण) का उपयोग किया है और किसी भी प्रकार की राय या विचार (मौलिक विश्लेषण) पर निर्भर नहीं है।

यह केवल उन मापदंडों की तुलना है जो मध्यम वर्ग के लिए प्रासंगिकता रखते हैं। हमने कल्याणकारी योजनाओं और वस्तुओं की कीमतों को शामिल नहीं किया है क्योंकि वे दर्शकों के एक बड़े समूह से संबंधित हैं जो कि सिर्फ मध्यम वर्ग तक ही सीमित नहीं है।

मध्यम वर्ग एक ऐसा वर्ग है जो उन्ही चीजों पर विश्वास करता है जो वो देखता है। वस्तुओं के साथ-साथ अधिकतर बुनियादी सुविधाओं पर लगने वाले करों (जीएसटी और सेवा कर) में भी कमी आई है। टैक्स पर बचत के कारण बीमा क्षेत्र भी विकास कर सकता है। कर कटौती में 50% की वृद्धि की गई है।

भ्रष्टाचार कम है, हिंसक अपराधों में कमी हैं। महिलाओं के खिलाफ अपराध कम हुए हैं। लोग, विशेष रूप से महिलाएं, अब सुरक्षित महसूस कर सकते हैं। महिलाओं के खिलाफ प्रत्येक मामले को मीडिया द्वारा चुन-चुन कर प्रसारित किया जाता है लेकिन आंकड़ों की मानें तो महिलायों के खिलाफ हो रहे अपराधों में कमी दर्ज की गई है। मौजूदा सरकार के सत्ता संभालने के बाद से देश के शहरों में एक भी आतंकवादी हमला नहीं हुआ है। यह मोदी सरकार द्वारा राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा के लिए उठाए गए कदमों का परिणाम है।

प्राथमिक शिक्षा अब सुलभ है और निजी स्कूली शिक्षा को और अधिक किफायती बनाया गया है।

वर्तमान सरकार की आलोचना के बावजूद, यह स्पष्ट है कि मध्यम वर्ग इस सरकार द्वारा उठाए गए कदमों का एक बड़ा लाभार्थी है। इन सबके बावजूद बॉलीवुड का कहना है कि हमारा देश रहने के लिए एक सुरक्षित जगह नहीं है।

(ये लेख मूल रूप से ऑपइंडिया की अंग्रेज़ी वेबसाइट पर पब्लिश हुआ था। लेख का अंग्रेज़ी से हिन्दी अनुवाद अनुपम सिंह ने किया है)

केंद्र में बिना अध्यादेश के पारित नहीं होगी सर्दी!

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आशीष नौटियाल

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3 January 2019

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केंद्र में बिना अध्यादेश के पारित नहीं होगी सर्दी!

दिल्ली में दो ही चीजें हैं जिनका इंतजार दिसम्बर और जनवरी आते ही जनता और, खासतौर से युवाओं को, रहता है। वो हैं – सर्दी और सरजी। लेकिन मौसम विज्ञान ने पिछले कुछ वर्ष के रुझानों में दोनों को ही ग़ायब पाया है।

सर-कारी आंकड़ों के मुताबिक सर्दी और सरजी, दोनों के प्रदर्शन में आयी भीषण गिरावट का कारण इन्हें सामान्य बहुमत से ही पास कर दिए जाने की चर्चाओं से देखी गयी है। जबकि सर्दी और सरजी दोनों ही चाहते हैं कि जिस तरह की दोनों की “टी आर पी” है, उस हिसाब से उनपर चर्चा भी बिना अध्यादेश के नहीं की जानी चाहिए। यानी अगर ‘सरजी’ होना सामान्य बहुमत से पारित होने लगे, तो हर युवा जंतर मंतर जाकर मफ़लर ओढ़कर सरजी हो जाने का दावा करेगा और हर हवा ‘सर्दी’ होने का मजबूत दावा ठोकने लगेगी। जबकि देश जानता है कि सूत्र चाहे कुछ भी दावा कर लें, मगर देश में हवा अगर किसी की है तो वो बस मोदी जी की ही हो सकती है।

साइबेरियन हवाओं पर वर्तमान में दायर “आरटीआई” द्वारा मांगी गयी 370 पन्नों की रिपोर्ट से खुलासा हुआ है कि इस वर्ष की सर्दियों को आने में इसलिए भी समस्या हो रही है क्योंकि देश का मिज़ाज हनुमान जी की चर्चाओं से पहले से ही गर्म है, और यही गरमागरमी साइबेरिया से आने वाली हवाओं को रोक रही है। हनुमान जी जैसी शख़्सियत पर जितनी गरमागरमी से चर्चा इस सर्दी में हुई है, उतनी विगत किसी सीज़न में नहीं हुई थी ।

हनुमान जी दलित थे, ये पता चलते ही कुछ एजेंसियाँ उन्हें चुनावों से पूर्व वोटर कार्ड बनाकर देने की भी कोशिशों मे जुट गयी हैं, और उन्होने विश्वास भी दिलाया है कि अगर वो उसी एक पार्टी मे अपना विश्वास जाता दें तो अगले चुनावों से पहले जामवंत और सम्पाती के भी वोटर कार्ड और आधार कार्ड तैयार कर देंगे। यदि इस जनवरी तक भी हनुमान जी की जाति तय हो जाए तो शायद सर्द पवनों को देश के अंदर आम आदमी के कमरों में कुछ घुसपैठ करने की आजादी मिल सके।

लेकिन मेरा मानना है कि सर्दियों के गायब होने के पीछे कहीं न कहीं आम आदमी खुद भी जिम्मेदार है। मसलन, सुबह ही एक मित्र ने चाय पर चर्चा कर बताया कि रात को कमरे में हीटर लगाने से बढ़िया है कि वो शाम सात बजे से ही न्यूज़ डिबेट चालू कर सारे परिवार के साथ टीवी पर ज्वलंत प्रश्न तापने बैठ जाता है। ऐसा करने से उसे रूम हीटर से आने वाले बिजली के बिल से छुटकारा मिला है। सोने पर सुहागा ये कि उस पर अगर एक ही घर में दो लोग दो अलग ही पार्टियों को समर्थन देने वाले सदस्य रहते हों, तो चर्चा के बीच ही आपस में हाथ-पाँव छूट जाने के भी प्रबल समीकरण बनते हैं।

लेकिन अंदरूनी जानकारी ये भी कह रही है कि वर्षभर लगातार टूटते और बनते हुए महागठबंधन ने भी गर्मी का माहौल बनाए रखा है। एक अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संस्था ने महागठबंधन की मीटिंग्स से निकलने वाली गर्मी में कई नाभिकीय विखंडनों की ऊर्जा को महसूस करने का दावा किया है। वैज्ञानिकों ने इस ऊर्जा से नए सूर्य को तैयार करने की दिशा में कार्य करना शुरू कर दिया है। महागठबंधन ने भी हामी भर दी है कि 2019 में यदि सत्ता ना भी मिली तो वो सूर्य बनकर राष्ट्रवादी ताक़तों का मुक़ाबला करेंगे।

इन सभी चकल्लसों के बीच जब सर्दी माता से साक्षात्कार हुआ तो सर्दी माता ने भी कह दिया है कि “ये सारे मिलकर हमको पागल बना रहे हैं” और अब वो किसी भी शर्त पर बिना अध्यादेश के पारित नहीं होंगी । इन तमाम समस्याओं से दूर प्रकृति प्रेमी शहरी युवा बस इसी फ़िराक़ में है कि कब सर्दियाँ आयें, बर्फबारी हो और वो कुल्लू मनाली जाकर एक फेसबुक डीपी का जुगाड़ कर वापस ऑफिस अपने सहकर्मियों के बीच लौट सके और अपनी तस्वीरें ऑफिस के व्हाट्सप्प ग्रुप में शेयर कर के वहाँ का माहौल भी गरम कर सके।

वहीं मोदी जी के राम मंदिर पर दिये ताजा बयान ने भी सर्दी माता के कान खड़े कर दिये हैं। सर्दी माता का कहना है कि देश के लिए जितना ज़रूरी राम मंदिर है उतनी ही जरूरी सर्दियाँ भी हैं। यदि राम मंदिर बिल दोनों सदनों में बहुमत से पास नहीं किया जा सकता है तो फिर सर्दियाँ भी सिर्फ मफ़लर ओढ़ लेने का बहाना कर लेने मात्र से महसूस नहीं की जा सकती हैं। स्पष्ट शब्दों में आपत्ति दर्ज़ करते हुए सर्दी माता ने बयान दिया है कि “ये सर्दियाँ हैं, जनेऊ नहीं कि बस पाँच साल बाद ही जरूरत पड़ेगी”।

वास्तव में यह एक विचारणीय बिन्दु है कि हर वर्ष खुद ही चले आने के कारण सर्दियों के हितों को किसी भी राष्ट्रीय और स्थानीय दल ने अपने चुनावी मेनिफेस्टो में शामिल ना कर के सर्दियों को नज़रअंदाज़ ही किया है,और मेरी भी वर्तमान सरकार से गुज़ारिश है कि सर्दियों के लिए एक विशेष आयोग कि स्थापना कर ही लेनी चाहिए।

इन सभी आवश्यक पहलुओं को देखकर यही निष्कर्ष निकला है कि देश में जहां एक ओर सर्दी और सरजी के दर्शन के लिए बेताबी का माहौल है वहीं एक बड़ा वर्ग ऐसा भी है जिसे इन दोनों को दूर से ही दर्शन में रुचि है। वो जानता है कि ठंड पड़ी तो रज़ाई त्यागनी होगी। रज़ाई त्यागी तो चाय बनानी होगी। दूध, सब्जी लेने के लिए मफ़लर के बिना बाहर न निकला जाएगा।

Budget and income tax: What a common man wants from the government

Opinions

charuawalkar

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2 January 2019

0

Budget and income tax: What a common man wants from the government

Some recommendation for the govt to keep in mind while making their upcoming budget.

Corruption, money laundering are more serious offences than non disclosure of income since in former, it is not your money but stolen, while non disclosure is evasion of tax on your own money. Hence non disclosures should be taken more considerately than corruption or laundering.
Bigger business and other dealings around 10 crore & above may be checked for other bank account nos , details etc.
Thousands of crores of rupees amount gathered by money laundering, corruption should be investigated more to increase revenues and actually that is the part of public money, exchequer & government revenue source.
Government long term tax free/saving bonds should be introduced With eligibility upto Rs 5 lakh Per person per year which will provide huge money for government high cost infra projects costs.
Make system of taxation simpler So that people won’t mind paying Little higher taxes since complicated systems create hesitation / apprehensions about the same.
Income from house property should not be considered as the actual income (just for owning other house) and shouldn’t be taxable unless it is rented.
KVP Postal saving shouldn’t be brought under scanner since they are retirement in come source for many in this high inflatioan country wherein stringent taxation would rather depreciate one’s holding.
NPAs and industry losses if reduced can be a big income source for country.
PF and retirement schemes shouldn’t be taxed for the same reasons as above about high inflation in our country.
More stress on NPS can collect huge funds & can control inflation in the country.
Interest rates on investments should not be reduced much since it is a source of income for many and India doesn’t have any social security system.
KYC etc should not be asked for every property . For high value ( say above 50-100 crores) properties can be investigated by govt agencies based on their various information sources and KYC may be asked for such properties.
More concentration should be done on corruption money,NPAs of banks,non performance of industries, companies.
Banks are making huge losses & need at least 40-50% privatisation to stop,reduce Bad debts ,since with private participation politically supported bad loans will come under control.
Bad loans to industries can also then come under review on national level & solution may evolve out of such national debate for industries to improve performance.
Public opinion may be made for that legislation can then follow.
With the help of NGOs accountability etc should be imbibed in masses so that corruption will be less,productivity will be more,losses ,NPAs will reduce.
Co operative and small ,medium scale sector should be promoted to generated more opportunities. The sectors should be under observation to ensure that they function properly and not like many co-operative Sector organisations
Rather than high cost luxurious infra projects, essential infra projects should get more attention.
All world policy of increased artificial demands after globalisation should be reduced.
Attention should be given to control prices of commodities and services.
Rather than over education provide education to match societies requirements including labour skilled/unskilled and people will not have to be imported from Bangladesh.
Efforts should be made to reduce imports, raise Rupee value (exchange rate).

Similarity between Shakuni and Periyar

Opinions

S Ranganathan

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2 January 2019

0

Shakuni is although portrayed predominantly as a negative character in Mahabharat but in real sense Shakuni was not as negative as described or known. Shakuni was quite brilliant and was a great visionary. Bhishma waged war against his country- Gandhara to marry his sister Gandhari to the blind Dridarastra, king of Hastinapur. In the war, entire Gandhara kingdom was destroyed. Shakuni carried his anger and revenge to destroy the entire Hastinapur.

To destroy Hastinapur the only option he had was to break the relationship between Pandava and Kaurava brothers, impose the theory of confusion, create fear on the identity and existence of Kaura clan, continuously tutor Kaurava with hatred against Pandavas, abuse and criticize Pandavas publicly and abuse Kauravas as well in an advisory note were the strategies Shakuni had adopted. To hide the true identity of Shakuni from getting noticed, he too played the victim card along with Kauravas and identified himself also as a true member of Kaurava clan. But he belongs to Gandharva kingdom.

Shakuni also made known his hatred for Pandavas but in real sense, Shakuni did not have any hatred for Pandavas and his anger was more towards Kauravas and Bhisma. But to execute his revenge, he divided Kauravas from Pandavas. Shakuni poisoned the mind of Duryodhana even when he was a small boy.

The exact reason for the state of mind (revenge) of Shakuni was more of personal than political. But he used his personal revenge to script Mahabharat war and destruction of the entire Kauravas. At the end Dharma won thanks to Lord Krishana.

If we compare the characteristic sketch of Shakuni with Periyar, we can find several similarities between them. These are only similarities and need not be same. Periyar was born in an ardent Hindu family. He made a visit to Kaasi temple as a part of pilgrimage. He could not get free meal in the choultries as it was meant for upper caste Hindus. That incident had infuriated him and possibly the hunger and anger would have transformed as revenge and shaped his thinking.

Periyar started to abuse, criticize and spread hate politics against Brahmins by calling them non-Tamil people and descendants of Aryan race. He continuously belittled the people of Tamil Nadu by calling them ‘Sudra’, children of prostitute and Tamil language as barbaric etc., and Brahmin as Aryan.

Periyar brilliantly crafted the anti-caste, anti-Brahmin movement but was extra brilliant to keep both the agendas alive so that his activism would get continuous relevance and recognition. Otherwise he could have asked the first DMK government to abolish caste system in Tamil Nadu as he had already excommunicated and persecuted Brahmins from Tamil Nadu as Aryan race (non-Tamil race). But instead the Dravidian party used different castes to formulate its electoral politics to remain in power.

Periyar also cleverly borrowed the term Dravidian from Bishop Robert Cladwell came to India to spread Christianity and smartly used the Dravidian term to mask the Tamil identity. Like how once congress coined the term India is Indira and Indira is India. Periyar too renamed the real name of Tamil as Dravidam and what for he did so remain secret.

Initially he claimed entire south to be Dravidian land but when the states like Kerala, Andhara Pradesh and Karnataka refused to buy his theory, he even abused all those states but brilliantly etched Dravidian identity to Tamil Nadu. Today several people raise doubts and express suspicion over why Periyar referred Tamil people as Dravidan race. The possibility is that Periyar and many of his associates may want to hide something and hence renamed Tamil as Dravidam.

Periyar also showed extraordinary intelligence to keep his mission alive by spewing his hatred towards God, temple culture and religious faith etc., besides against Brahmins may due to the reason that only that way he can continue his mission permanently. Brahmins were very small population in Tamil Nadu, and were weak politically and economically.

Only difference of Shakuni is that Shakuni at the end, in the battle field confessed for his actions and then embraced eternity. But Periyar even in his last speech in Thyagaraya Nagar said that he is leaving all those Sudra as orphan and never confessed for how he converted his personal revenge to define the political landscape of the entire state.

The interesting aspect of both Shakuni and Periyar is that both could convert their personal incidence or anger or revenge into real fate of the state. Shakuni caused destruction of the Kaurava clan but on the contrary Periyar helped his followers to capture power but did nothing to eliminate caste system within his manufactured race called Dravidian. Periyar appears to have allowed the Dravidian party to use different castes to formulate electoral politics to win election.

Anna although followed the principles of Periyar but when he formed DMK, diluted his stand against Brahmins. MGR was the one who really saved the culture of Tamil Nadu and did something substantial for the people of Tamil Nadu like Kamarajar. MGR diluted hate politics, brought divinity, god worship and ancient treasures of Tamil culture which was further expanded and resurrected by Amma.

Had there been no MGR and Amma, the state would have been destroyed totally by the Dravidian politics. Today the Dravidian politics has reduced to dynastic ruler culture, has frozen the great Tamil tradition, Bhakti culture and God belief among people. People are coming back to divinity and hope that they would elect Narendra Modi to rebuild New Tamil Nadu and end the Dravidian politics. Ironically today the DMK is identifying the one who search his Brahmin DNA as Prime Minister of India. It looks like DMK has changed and hope people also would change and elect a leader with national vision larger cultural identity of our India.

Youth will be the important factor in India’s 2019 election

Opinions

sudip47

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2 January 2019

0

Youth will be the important factor in India’s 2019 election

India has now an unrivalled youth demographic: 65% of the population is 35 or under, and half the country’s population of 1.25 billion people is under 25 years of age. According to the Election Commission of India, as of 1 January 2014, more than 42,000 voters between the ages of 18 and 19 were registered, on average, in each of the 542 parliamentary constituencies. In percentage terms, this comprises of 14% of eligible voters. Which means very roughly, about 150 million 18- to 23-year-olds qualified to vote for the first time. in 2014 election. In 2019, it should be even more. 76% of India’s internet users are under the age of 35 and 42% of them are between 15 and 24 years. And with 18 to 23 years olds making up more than 14% of the electorate the youth vote could be the deciding factor in which way the polls swing.

Of all India’s voter categories, the young are the most aspirational; the most impatient for better living and better prospects. The issue that most concern them is better employment opportunities.

Nationally, Modi had generated enormous support among the young and aspirational for his agenda of development and promotion of a range of transformational initiatives, like Start-Up India, Skill India, Stand-Up India, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Smart Cities mission, AMRUT and so on. However, outcomes in most of these have been indifferent and yet to crystallize and some schemes are yet to get off the ground.

In the meantime, the economy has simply not been able to provide 10 million jobs per annum that Narendra Modi had talked of in his election campaign in 2014.

Students form a very important group among the youth. Their biggest and most legitimate grievance in India is that what they learn after putting so much time, effort and money has very little relevance to the realities of life with which they come face to face after leaving the university; they face joblessness. It is but natural that they feel frustrated and hold the leaders and the party in power responsible.

The youth live in present and look to the future. They are not much aware and concerned as to what happened in the past. They will instead be more evaluating and more critical of the performance of the present government and scrutinizing it in terms of the job and other opportunities it is able to offer.

From 2010 to 2016, India had one of the highest rates of job creation in the organised workspace. Latest payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) suggests that ‘job creation’ in the country more than doubled to 9.73 lakh in September, 18 compared to 4.11 lakh in the same month last year. This is the highest monthly addition since September 2017, when the government started releasing EPFO data. From September 2017 to September 2018, around 79.48 lakh new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the EPFO. Several economists have doubted such claims of a surge in job growth and much discussion has happened on whether a new enrollment on the EPFO database does indeed reflect creation of a new formal job.

In any case, the general perception is one of utter joblessness because Demonetization and GST have reportedly led to much loss of job in unorganized and SME sectors the jobs debate is mired in claims and counter-claims. Lack of credible data on jobs is a major stumbling block in analysing the Centre’s record on job creation. Earlier, there used to be household surveys conducted by 1) National Sample Survey Organization and 2) Labour Bureau. These two household surveys are in the process of being replaced by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which will produce annual employment estimates at the national and rural level, and quarterly estimates in urban areas.

Further, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has written to 10 ministries, including the Labour Ministry, seeking data on employment generated in various sectors under them. This was done about six months ago. Yet, the exercises appear to be still on. It is high time the government completes the exercise and finalizes the report card.

It is also imperative for the government to communicate properly to the youth the addition/ growth generated and being generated in job creation and skill and entrepreneurship development. It should also point to the reforms in the Apprentices Act, fixed-term labour contracts, and subventions in social security contributions to encourage employers to take on more labour as initiatives that will deliver in due course.

The writer is a long-standing commentator on contemporary issues.

Promote the proactive values of Siddha system not cross pathy

Opinions

S Ranganathan

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1 January 2019

0

Promote the proactive values of Siddha system not cross pathy

Siddha system of healing practice has its roots deep in Tamil tradition and Bhakti movement. Ancient Siddhars were not considered as mere mortal being but as divine incarnation. It is believed that Siddhars had inherited the sacred healing wisdom directly from Lord Siva and that is how the Siddhars perpetuated Siddha system in Tamil Nadu. Tamil tradition, devotion to God and culture are closely linked with Siddha literature. Siddha recipes are largely meant for healthy living and mind healing than drugs in strict sense.

Siddha system is a proactive health care system than reactive medical science like allopathic science. The paramedical and post treatment benefits of Siddha system such as massage therapy, mind therapy, Yoga etc., have great value and relevance even today. But cross pathy by several institutionally qualified Siddha Vaidya in private practice has destroyed the Siddha system. Our society needs Siddha recipes to remain healthy more than the allopathic drugs to treat diseases. Government of Tamil Nadu and Ministry of AYUSH must mandate all Siddha vaidyas in private practice to offer Siddha paramedical and premedical therapy than engaging in cross pathy and becomes missionaries of allopathic system.

Tamil Nadu requires wellness and health experts than doctors to make our society healthy and to create health awareness and consciousness among people. People are moving towards healthy living and have started to adopt various measures like vising workout centres which is absolutely an exotic idea and also is costly. If the Tamil culture and faith based Siddha system is reinvented by repositioning Siddha system as proactive healing practice meant for health and for wide variety of paramedical benefits, the state can easily meet the health challenges and also can reduce the financial burden on health delivery system, significantly.

The strategy for the promotion of Siddha system must be clear and unambiguous. Siddha system must be promoted judiciously for the benefit that it can offer than on tall promise or falsehood. Promoting Siddha system as an advanced medical science or its products as drugs like allopathy will not help either Siddha system or our society. Cross pathy by several institutionally qualified Siddha vaidyas in private practice must be strictly curbed because cross pathy not only destroys the relevance of Siddha system but also cause medication health fraud, push the innocent people in remote villages to great risk such as wrong or delayed diagnosis, wrong medication, prolonged suffering and unnecessary wastage of money for the above. Instead of allowing the Vaidyas to showcase their expertise in allopathic system, they should be mandated to engage in Siddha practice for wellness and health.

Tamil Nadu should not lose its ancient health tradition and its recipes. Devotion, commitment and passion must be inculcated among those Vaidyas engaged in cross pathy than covertness.

The importance of proactive health care practice must be promoted at global level and if the Siddha system is promoted properly, the paramedical benefits of Siddha system will enjoy global recognition and acceptance. Siddha Vaidyas instead of engaging in cross pathy must take pride in Siddha system and must unravel many other less known paramedical wonders and therapies of Siddha system to mankind. Cross pathy by Vaidyas is a bane not only to Siddha system and to our health delivery system but also to the entire Tamil tradition.

The road ahead-2019: Year of the Modi

Reports

seafarer

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1 January 2019

0

Wish us all a Very Happy and Game Changing 2019

The New Year is here and wishing pleasantries to each other is in the air. However it should not be forgotten that we have just entered 2019, the year of the Lok Sabha General Elections and a test for all those Modi supporters/fans to come together leaving whatever they are currently engaged for. I have mentioned before and re-iterating it here that 2019 is way more important than 2014.
As more and more negative propaganda is spread against Mr Modi and his achievements are hidden from (by) the main stream media, the victory in 2019 cannot be taken for granted. We all need to work together to ensure a comfortable victory for Mr Modi in 2019 to take the country forward and make sure all his schemes are concluded to provide the good governance to all.

Here, I try to put forward my suggestions for a BJP victory in 2019:

1. It is evident that some Media channels, online platforms are extremely biased against BJP. With immediate effect, all BJP and RSS leaders should stop appearing on all such channels, stop personal interviews, stop giving them media bytes and stop getting these reporters any access to inside information at all. As a result, these people will be angry and will come out more openly against BJP (if such a state is not already there) and tackling them will become easy. While doing this, we understand only few media channels and online platforms will be available for BJP and they should be used extensively and proactively. It is a propaganda war and needs all out efforts to counter this.

2. There will be twisting of statements, partial videos, WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts against BJP Leaders. Some fake stories will also be spread in the masses. BJP IT Cell workers should be trained to look for such content and take counter measures immediately. Anyone found writing an article on behalf of RSS top sources/BJP core team and badmouthing the Government should be investigated and if it is a fake news, the reporter should be made to apologise in public. There is no way that wrong reporting should be accepted or ignored as a minor issue.

3. All BJP workers at booth level should be trained for at least one week and explained all important data, effects of the government schemes in last 5 years, the status of economy and other positive steps taken by Modi Govt. Further to this, each attending worker has to spread this news to each voter in his booth and remain in constant touch with them. Each worker should be in direct contact with each Voter in his area and any WhatsApp forward/Facebook post or fake propaganda should be in the knowledge of the booth worker to take counter measures immediately

4. Mr Modi must announce positive schemes and welfare plans for next five years for his government from 2019 to 2024 in all his rallies. Now the speech should only contain 2014 manifesto and target completion and next targets for 2024. There should be power point presentations, slide shows in all rallies in the native language of the attending people

5. Mr Modi should also visit four major religious places- Maa Vaishno Devi in JK, Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu, Maa Kamakhya in Assam and Somnath Temple in Gujarat. Out of these, Maa Vaishno Devi visit should be on foot like a common devotees. These are important steps for the sentiments of Indians and should be completed with lot of devotion

6. Mr Modi should announce Bharat Ratna awards to Opposition leaders who have been ignored by Congress governments like Shri PVN Rao ji and other such respected leaders

7. Mr Modi should announce a scheme for all Religious tour and travels – an exclusive board to have offices in each district headquarter and any person can approach them and plan their all India religious travel. This facility to be free for all senior people without any source of income and reasonable cost from others who can pay. The idea is to spread the nationalism via religious tourism and let people travel together and spread the words for the Modi Government. This should be a permanent board and will boost the domestic tourism to its peak.

8. In the coming Budget 2019, tax relief should be given to working classes and feedback from the people to be taken and implemented. BJP should be able to provide data to people that so and so people had advised to make the tax slabs such and we have accepted the people command as we are here to serve the people.

9. GST council meeting to be held and maximum tax slab to be reduced to 18% at the most and resulting cost saving for people for all items as compared to pre-GST era to be explained to all Indians.

10. There should be a separate program and all Freedom fighters belonging to various states to be specially recognised and awarded. Shahid Bhagath Singh, Azad, Rajguru, Bismil and others- all of these brave young men should be remembered and recognised in Parliament function.

11. All ISRO scientists and other achievers of India should be invited to the Rashtrahpati Bhavan and special award ceremony to be held for them. This should include the Scientists, economists, start up entrepreneurs, social workers, engineers and doctors etc. The function should be also utilised to present the government achievement with such people participation which is Making India Great Again.

12. Power and water supply to be 100% in all BJP ruled states and any complaint to be handled promptly. The idea is that no one should be able to counter the claim and this should be a ground reality rather than a false promise. This can be easily ensured by pushing the authority at local level to comply to government requirements.

13. Police should be highly sensitised in BJP ruled states and there should be zero complaints against police staff for bribe or harassment. This can also be ensured by involving and authorising the superintendent of police in each district.

14. There should be zero tolerance for harassment of patients in government hospitals and health units. The responsibility should be fixed and action to be taken promptly if any complaint is received. Booth workers should be encouraged to contact the common people to understand the effectiveness of above mentioned points 12,13 and 14. These are the most common need of the people and these reforms will ensure people do not fall for false propaganda as they will be aware of the ground reality.

There can be many more suggestions but I have highlighted the few which are easy to implement and effect can be seen within few months when people will be getting ready to vote in 2019.

No BJP spokesperson should be speaking poorly about the opposition leaders and all should be maintaining a polite but firm response to their opponents in debates. Their response should be factual and highlighting the government achievements only. There is no logic or advantage in involving yourselves with meaningless allegations and counter-allegations

There is a great sympathy in MP/CG/Rajasthan Voters now for their EX CM- it is suggested that all three CMs (especially Shivraj ji) are immediately included in the Central cabinet. If this is not possible then all the three CMs to be given the big responsibility for 2019 in their respective states and asked to meet each voter from their state and request for vote for Modi ji in 2019. They have a unique personal connect now with the masses and should be utilised to the fullest.

Last but not the least, Modi Ji to use his aura to look in the eyes of Indians and explain them the requirement to bring a Bharat Mata’s Son back in 2019.

Truth behind the Dravidian mask – Nemesis is hunting DMK

Opinions

S Ranganathan

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1 January 2019

0

Truth behind the Dravidian mask – Nemesis is hunting DMK

Today DMK is hunted by its own shadow, past deeds and the nemesis like the proverbial saying “evil be to him who evil thinks”.

DMK as a political party very cleverly used the farcical theory of Aryan- Dravidian divide and described Brahmins as foreigners in Tamil Nadu and they were branded as descendants of Aryan race. Even UV Swaminatha Iyer referred as ‘Tamil Thatha’ and Tirugnana Sambanthar were not spared due to their Brahmin caste despite their rich contributions to Tamil literature and tradition.

The Dravidian champions constantly under its brand ambassador Periyar defined Brahmins are non-Tamil people (Aryan race) and the rest as Dravidian race. Anti-Brahmin hatred, hatred towards God, religious practices, Hindu religion were the most common weapons the school of Periyar used to achieve power and grip over Tamil Nadu. Further Periyar kept insulting Tamil people by calling them ‘Sudra’ and other abusive phrases, Tamil language as barbaric etc., more in an advisory form.

Today several scholars and leaders of Tamil Desiya Iyakkam have raised doubt over the Tamil identity of most of those champions of Tamil cause during independence movement like Periyar as they claim that Periyar belongs to Telugu speaking community.

When the bomb of who is the true Tamilan and why the term Dravidam was imported from Bishop Robert Cadwell by those champions of Tamil cause broke out, the champions of Dravidian cause started to justify that all that Periyar know was only Tamil language and hence his identity should not be questioned. It looks like to hide own identity from getting noticed, the term Dravidian was imposed on Tamil people and to deflect the attention of people, hatred against Brahmins was fueled. More than spitting venom, poison and toxin against Brahmins, Periyar abused the people of Tamil Nadu by calling them ‘Sudra’, ‘children of prostitute’ etc., which suggests the above hypothesis of Tamil Desiya Iyakkam warrant further research.

Tamil Brahmins, wherever they live be it Palakkadu in Kerala or other parts of India or in UK or US or France or Germany, speak only Tamil at home and follow all most all traditions of Tamil from cradle to grave. But the school of Periyar excommunicated and persecuted such Brahmin people as foreigner in Tamil Nadu. Ironically today the DMK is in the receiving end and is biting own bullet. It looks like the ghost that they had created for power is today hunting them back and many are searching their true identity.

There is a saying ‘God’s mill grind slow but sure’ has come true in Tamil Nadu. People of the state have started to go back to the great Bhakti era as they have recognized the truth that God is the integral part of Tamil culture which the school of Periyar has abused and mocked continuously.

Today the champions of Dravidian identity politics are finding it hard to defend the term Dravidian and are counter questioning, when they have gone against Tamil people, directly suggesting people to accept them without questioning their tainted actions or identity.

The question is why did they mask the true identity of Tamil as Dravidam and created a new history, was it to tomb the ancient Tamil culture? Was the discovery of the term Dravidian meant to hide own Telugu identity and if so why should they shy to admit the same to people of the state. When they were so heartless to call Tamil speaking Brahmins as non-Tamil people how would they justify their Telugu origin?

The point is not about creating wedge among people but to tell the world how ‘Nemesis’ would hunt those who sow the same in the society. If the truth behind ‘Dravidian’ myth is busted, that would end Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu needs a new beginning, a new experiment, a new chemistry and governance. The state must integrate itself with its umbilical cord Hinduism and the concept of one India must be re-invented in Tamil Nadu.

Politics of development not politics of dynasty should be empowered in the state. The most shocking aspect is that how the anti-Brahmin champion proposes the name of a Brahmin DNA searcher as Prime Minister Candidate? Does this not prove once again the hypocrisy like the Dravidian mask? Hope people of the state will unmask everything and pledge support to the honest leader Narendra Modi.

Middle class: Shravan Kumar of Indian economy

Opinions

Ashish kumar

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1 January 2019

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Middle class: Shravan Kumar of Indian economy

In recent scenarios it has become huge discussions on Middle class contribution for nation development. I feel like middle class family members are like Shravan Kumar of Indian economy who holds the burden of both rich and poor. They still feel like that they are not a most powerless unit for nation’s development, in my point of view they are the future deciders of the nation and want to make country proud. I feel proud to say that I am from middle class family and my contribution for nation development never stops (Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country: J.F Kennedy).

True that this middle class pays for Farmer’s loan, pays for public properties damage during agitations, pays for subsidies, pays toll taxes for roads, pays income tax, property tax etc. That’s why Prime Minister Modi said in his speech on independence day that honest and hard-working middle class tax payers’ contribution was the reason the poor in the country got food to eat. “Every honest tax payer is helping three poor families get enough food”.

Now the question is how middle class families benefited in the last 4 years of this government.

Dear readers, here I take on an absolutely false narrative propagated by many leaders and media, “Modi govt collects taxes from middle class and doesn’t give them any benefits”. I strongly condemn the above allegations, taking into account these changes of the government in the last 4 years which directly benefited the Middle class families.

In 2014, the three biggest issues were:

1) Inflation

2) Corruption

3) Terrorism

Please look at the below points at a glance.

As 2019 arrives:

Inflation is completely under control
Corruption at the top level is gone
Terrorism in most part of the country has vanished (Almost none terror attack)
India’s share in world GDP- 2.43% to 3.08%
India’s Forex Reserves- From 300 bn USD to 420 bn USD
Foreign Direct Investment- From 36 bn USD to 60 un USD
Inflation (महंगाई)- From 10.9% to 2.3%
Home loan interest rate(p.a)- From 11.5% to 9%
Tax on Beverages/Edible-oils/Sugar/Spices/Sweets/Bread- From 12% to 5%
Tax on grains and Pulses- From 5% to 0%
Number of IT returns filed- From 3.79 Cr to 6.84 Cr
Number of registered taxpaying businesses- From 50 Lakhs to 114 Lakhs
Un-electrified villages- From 30% to 0%
National highway network- From 92,851 Km to 120,543 Km
Transaction charges on payment through cards- From 1% to 0%
Sanitation coverage- From 39% to 95%
LPG coverage- From 55% to 91%
Domestic money transfer fee- From 1% to 0
Un-employment rate- From 13.30% to 3.50%
Country’s economy is rising.
Armed Forces are becoming stronger.
Petrol rates are controlled on the public demand.
Food prices are decreasing.
Home loan rates are decreasing.
Taxes on goods are decreasing.
Reforms happening.
Social needs are getting fulfilled.
Welfare schemes and facilities are expanding.
Factually farmer’s income Increasing.
Digital footprint increasing.
Business activities are increasing.
Scams not happening.
Terrorists & Maoist’s getting thrashed.
Looters not getting freebies.
Service system and government schemes becoming feasible and direct to account.

How GST Benefitted Middle class:

GST has significantly reduced household budget, tax rates have come down on every daily use item-

Here is the simple pre and post GST rate comparison-

Wheat: From 2.75% to 0%
Rice: From 2.75% to 0%
Sugar: From 6% to 5%
Milk powder: From 6% to 5%
Tax on grains and Pulses: From 5% to 0%

All the daily use goods have been either exempted or put in the 5% slab.

The rolling out of the GST in June 2017, and the subsequent implementation took place rather smoothly and the economy recovered faster than expected. The central and state taxes were amalgamated to be brought under one umbrella. The problem of tax on tax (cascade taxation) was also solved with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. The number of direct tax payers has increased from 6 million to 10.6 million in FY 2017-18 pointing at a positive spillover effect of GST.

According to research based on consumer expenditure data, a household would be saving Rs 320 every month on their monthly spend of Rs 8,400 on 10 goods- cereals, edible oil, sugar, chocolates, namkeen and sweets, cosmetics and toiletries, washing powder, tiles, furniture and coir products and other household products. Earlier, tax in the monthly expenses of 8,400 rupees on daily-use items was 830 rupees while in the post-GST era, it has been reduced to 510 rupees thus saving almost 320 rupees for the consumer. Last week itself, PM Narendra Modi announced that the government shall ensure that 99% of goods will be brought under the 18% GST slab or lower, leaving only luxury and sin items in the 28% tax slab.

Demonetization:

New taxpayers increased by 26.6%
Number of e-returns filed increased by 28%
Good for the middle class. As the tax base widens, tax rates will go down.
Stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir reduced by 75%
7.62 lakh counterfeit notes detected
58,000 bank accounts belonging to 35,000 companies caught transacting Rs. 17,000 Crore after demonetization
Maze of shell companies dealing in black money and hawala transactions uncovered
Detected 17.73 lakh cases where cash transactions did not match tax profile

Education Sector:

Modi Government has also improved the primary education system by the adoption of digital platforms in schools. Primary education has been made more affordable by this government which remains the major factor for the rise in enrollment. Also, the advent of digital schools promises to make the carrying of heavy bags redundant. The Modi government also made private school education more affordable.

New educational institutions since 2014:

7 IITs, 7IIMs, 14 IIITs, 1 NIT, 2 IISER, 103 Kendriya Vidyalaya, 62 Navodaya Vidyalaya.

Railway:

I myself observed lot of change in railway stations in terms of clean and green in which most of middle class families will travel. Following are a few changes happened in last 4+ years.

Introduction of 17,000 bio-toilets and additional toilets in over 400 stations. These are toilets that treat human waste instead of allowing them to litter rail tracks as was traditionally practised.
CCTV on coaches: In order to improve security among travelers and especially senior citizens and women, it has been decided to introduce CCTV cameras on doorways and aisles of train compartments, without encroaching on anyone’s privacy.
Free Wi-Fi on stations: The government decides to provide free Wi-Fi services to passengers at stations.
E-Catering Services on trains: The Ministry Of Railways under Modi government is providing e-catering services on trains allowing passengers to place an order for a meal that shall be served at his seat.
Broad Gauge and Electrification: The government has commissioned the laying of 2,500kms of Broad Gauge Lines and the electrification of 1,600kms of rail tracks- Highest Ever!
The Indian Railways has tried to remove all level crossings in major routes across the country, thereby ridding itself of potential death traps for road users in its network.

The modernization of railways under Suresh Prabhu and quick implementation of projects under Piyush Goyal has helped in considerable progress of railways. Metro Transit system, Bullet Trains, Hyperloop and other high-speed rail projects are also in the pipeline of implementation.

These are the few facts that lead India at high across the world in this 21st century and these are directly benefited the common man’s life, and even there are many other schemes and projects which I have not mentioned here. As time passes, the one country in the Southeast Asian part of the world has touched new heights and has achieved a new recognition in the world. A government that not only brought changes to the budget fiscals but also its tax reforms has played an important role in setting newer and better heights for the country to achieve. Surging India is now a concept that has glued the world’s eyes to this nation. Bharat is now a unique threshold of possibility. If we do the right things in the coming 5 to 10 years, we can move a large mass of humanity from one level of living to another like never before.

Fifty-five months NaMo government has extensively worked at grassroots to strengthen the life of every common man. The middle class has benefited, in more ways than can be summarized in one go. He gives them a home, LPG, health insurance, electricity, pension and connectivity. Another man comes a day before elections. Gives this family a bottle of rum, blanket and ₹500, Family votes for him. We want free schemes so that there is no need to work. All I need is free unemployment allowance, monthly rice, and my granny get 2000 as widow allowance, whatever land my dad bought we will get 20K per annum, etc. Am getting all this why would I need jobs. Increasing freebies is the agenda of many political parties. Even after splendid development and unprecedented work, Modi has to put in extra efforts to get votes. Whereas Cong just has to commit scams and put hindrance to good work and people will vote.

In 2014, Narendra Modi had enthused the people of this country like never before, as is evident from the election results. And in the past 4 ½ years, he has shown us how he means business and beyond; how he is receptive to feedback; he has often reminded us about our duties and has led from the front to bring in changes to our system and has encouraged us to dream big to contribute towards a New India by 2022.

This is not in the support of any political party nor to make political gain, it’s just to show the fact what has changed in these 4 years. Many people ask me if I am a BJP supporter. I believe in politics. I feel no human being is beyond politics. I am biased towards NATION interests. I support who guards them. Hence I support MODI. Don’t keep on any masks, as long as I believe my understanding stands right. The educated and logical people should understand these things and share with them who require it. Just think before you vote.

Let’s together defeat every propaganda of the Anti-Modi ecosystem and take the outstanding achievements of PM Modi to the masses and make sure that the victory margin this time is so huge that the corrupted ecosystem is finished forever. He has done a lot for the country let’s promise that we will not let him down.

Kaho Dil Se, Modi Fir Se..

‖ M: Model ‖ ‖ O: Of ‖ ‖ D: Developing ‖ ‖ I: India ‖i

Budget 2019- Some proposals on personal Income Tax

Opinions

hemenvarma

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31 December 2018

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Budget 2019- Some proposals on personal Income Tax

Last year’s budget was a big disappointment for the middle class and if the NDA Government wishes to win back its core constituency of middle class and the young, aspiring millennial, it can partly achieve this through the Union Budget by the following measures:

Raise Minimum Tax Slab from Rs. 2.5 Lakhs to Rs. 3.0 lakhs:
This will benefit all tax payers as well as those on the threshold of paying taxes, from Rs. 2500/- to Rs.15,000/- a year (5% to 30% tax slab).

Assuming a median figure of Rs. 5,000/- (as tax payers are maximum in the lower tax slabs of 5% & 10% IT) this means a revenue loss of Rs. 5000 X 6.84 Cr = Rs. 35,000/- Cr.

2. Raise Maximum Limit for Sec 80C benefits from Rs. 1.5 lakhs to Rs. 2.0 lakhs:
This will benefit all tax payers as well as those on the threshold of paying taxes, from Rs. 2500/- to Rs.15,000/- a year (5% to 30% tax slab).

Assuming a median figure of Rs. 6,000/- and number of tax payers benefiting as 60% of 6.84 Cr taxpayers (since all may not or may not be able to take this benefit) this means a Revenue Loss of Rs. 6000 X 4.1 Cr = Rs. 24,000/- Cr.

The above 2 measures will get a huge shout from the middle and higher income class citizens and give them a sense of compensation for the neglect they feel they have suffered in the past 2 years of Budget-making.

3. Raise Sec 54 E savings limit for capital gains amount from Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 1 Cr and simultaneously:
Reduce interest rate of REC Bonds & other eligible instruments to 4.25% from current 5.25%. This is only an inflation adjustment as the limit of Rs. 50 lakhs was fixed well over a decade ago.

Such a measure will benefit all those making capital gains.

It is difficult to estimate the likely impact on Revenue on absence of any data with the author; however Government may not have a big revenue loss owing to proposed reduction in Interest rates.

This move will be welcomed by all real estate investors and may, actually, help increase the “white component” of transaction even more, which will have many other cascading benefits.

4. Introduce a unique tax support to those undergoing professional courses like Engineering Medicine, Law to begin with.
The proposal is, 50% of the fees (academic fees only) paid for such courses (not the fees billed but the actual fees paid net of any scholarship, grant or financial support) will be tax deductible in 5 equal installments in the FIRST five years of the person’s income, post-acquisition of the qualification.

This will benefit all those going in for higher education and address the needs of the student/ young professional community in the budget, directly, for the first time. The gradual introduction also allows government to calibrate the extent of support based on actual revenue loss discovered.

It is difficult to estimate the likely impact on Revenue on absence of any data with the author.

Such a provision will draw enthusiastic support from students who are aspiring for higher education but are not well off and have to beg & borrow to be able to pay for the same.

5. Drop the requirement for the tax payer to fill in Assessment Year in any and all tax forms – let him/her just enter Financial Year:
Financial year is so much easier and clearer for the average individual tax payer to understand: Let the software translate that into the appropriate Assessment Year for Tax department’s internal processing purpose. In fact, currently when you want to pay TDS or Advance Tax, you are asked to enter Assessment Year and the software displays a “flashing notice” saying “Please Note- this Assessment Year means this Financial Year”. Hence, it is clear that the software is capable of translating AY to FY; it can as well translate an FY entry to the corresponding AY figure.

This will be a huge relief to individual taxpayers who often make mistakes while entering this information while paying TDS, Advance Tax and Self-Assessment Tax and as a result, their tax payment gets credited to the wrong year– recovery of which is a long, complicated and irritating procedure.

This measure has no revenue impact. It is part of the ongoing effort for making the Tax Department user-friendly and reducing errors in tax filing.

6. Increase the time allowed for correcting “erroneous PAN entry in Tax Payment Challans” to 60 days from current 10 days or so and make the process simpler and do away with any penalty for such erroneous entries.

This will be a huge relief to individual taxpayers who often make mistakes while entering this information, either a typographical error or simply due to hurry or carelessness. Very often, such mistakes are discovered much later during internal audit or some kind of reconciliation activity etc.; hence the suggestion to increase the time limit for correction.

This measure has no revenue impact. It is part of the ongoing effort for making the Tax Department user-friendly and reducing errors in tax filing.

7. Simplify Rules for TDS for payment of rent beyond Rs. 50,000/- to NRI Landlords so that TDS Payments can be made as in the case of landlords who are resident Individuals and do away with requirement for obtaining TAN registration and filing of TDS Returns which is very cumbersome and also expensive as it requires professional help from a CA.

This will be a huge relief to tenants who are simply not geared to follow so many rules and requirements for getting TAN Registration and filing TDS Returns. It will also save them the cost of CA fees.

This measure has no revenue impact. It is part of the ongoing effort for making the Tax Department user-friendly and reducing errors in tax filing.