Let me start with the title, Who is Aam Janta? I initially wrote it as Aam Aadmi but then realised it’s not politically correct. Shall I change to Common Man? It’s still not correct. Mango People (a la Love Aaj Kal)? Ok, Aam Janta it is.
In case, you are here for any particular political party, this may be political topic but it does not endorse any organization.
Every election all political parties come up with their own manifesto before election but generally after the election its kept somewhere safe never to be looked again till the next election. In the next election the same manifesto is taken out, dusted, wrapped in new cover and may be little perfume and voila. I’ll be surprised if the count of people reading the manifesto is anything substantial and in any way influential in formation of the government. Tall claims, false promises, appeasement are nothing new to this game. I’m sure what the elected government does is necessary and sufficient for the state/country to survive/excel/flourish internationally. But what does the general public want? There are some ground level things which are generally ignored.
As common man/aam aadmi common public/aam janta, we do have very simple dreams. The basic will always be “Roti, Kapda aur Makaan” but there is life apart from this too.
- We need a stable job so that we don’t live in constant fear of being jobless/homeless and have sufficient funds to support our families
- We want a regular supply of simple daily needs with proper channel for collection. Not sure about others but I’m happy to pay premium if services are given to that level
- When we go out as a family, don’t make it too difficult to understand the bill in which up to 20% is taxes and we may need to call upon a CA to understand
- When taxes is being paid in almost every place, why the service is still the same. In other words, rate of increase in service is no where comparable to rate of taxes we pay throughout
- If we take out the vehicle, we don’t want to think of parking which is either scarce or mafia controlled who demand amount which is probably more than the fuel cost we incur
Still after so many years, many homes do not have proper electricity or water meter. Apart from giving freebies the collection system to be strengthened. Instead of paying taxes at so many places, please tax once and for all, then we will know how much we are shelling out and what Government is doing. The hidden costs and taxes are actually driving our bank balances to zero. Instead of shouting on top of your voices to change things (before election), do change the things (after election).
It’s not that we are the perfect ones. We too have darker secrets. When being pulled over, instead of showing a paper with our faces, we prefer the ones with Gandhi ji. We are so impatient that we shove notes in to other people throats to have the advantage of reaching goals first. We do not take a dying person to hospital and then say services are not proper. We are the ones in hurry to reach our destination that we do not think of the person in ambulance who may breathe last before getting proper attention. We do a lot of mistakes but it’s for us to change and not Modi, Bedi, Kejri(wal) or Gandhi to guide us.
What can be done? Instead of saying nothing, the Government should do some very basic things and we for a change should follow the rules as they are.
- Timeline – Government will not last more than 5 years and we’ll never have more than 24 hours in a day, make the most of it. Any request, application, service or complaint should’ve have a proper timeline. You can not have a request pending for ages. Any delay should be justified and planning isn’t one of them. The favourite past-time had been “under investigation with XYZ panels”. This might help finish of investigation faster. Construction go on ages and Government keeps on giving extensions and tax money. Be it passport, postal, new connection for water, electricity, gas, telephone – Government Sector or Private.
- Accountability – Just having timelines will not solve or even asking for cause will not allow the problem to stop. Having a reward system in place to reward for good work and punishment for delaying the activity. Though rewards are better for positive reinforcement but it can still be discussed. Surely if an organisation misses something it has to be answerable.
There could be other things but I believe this may solve many of issues. Why I think so?
- Completion/maintenance of storage on time – health benefits, less loss of food items
- Completion of road/buildings on time – better service to people, less expense to Government (who pay for extensions!!!), people will own their own hoses on time
- Getting Water, Gas, Electricity, Passport connection in time – Less or may be no middle man
- Timelines of postal – May be then India Post will be trusted by people who think private vendors do a better job
- Timelines for Investigation/judgement – They might be doing their jobs well but may be not enough else so many cases will not be pending in court
- Accountability to/of Police – May be traffic mafia will stop, crimes may see decline
What do you think we can do to improve our nation? Please don’t say vote for so and so party because as Gandhi ji said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”
There are few things to reconsider :-
1. We can’t assume people will do only the right things. That’s almost impossible, especially for a country like India.
2. Collecting tax through one route will not solve our problems. Currently in India all tax collected from different sources are accumulated at one place before distribution. This is great for organisations like ISRO where it is almost impossible to raise funds. Instead we have to collect tax and use the money in the same area. This will increase the accountability and will be justifiable. In a normal village, the tax collected for houses(normally 2500+ sqft)normally is in the range of 1000 to 3000Rs per annum. This is totally insufficient to maintain the streets and the basic facilities. The road tax and tax on cars should be used to improve the roads.
Overall there is a fundamental problem with democracy. This is why it takes to long for a country like India to improve.
Its great to say in general about democracy , that all citizens of the country have the right to vote and decides the direction of the country. The general population contains all kinds of idiots. The ratio tends to be very large for any given population. And intelligent decisions tend to happen infrequently. Unless this changed it will take decades for a country like India to improve. The progress we will have in the future will be directly linked to the increase in educated people.
Not all people will do the right thing but if many do, we can live with that small percentage of idiots who don’t do it. May be some might not do it coz majority are not doing it. Like when we are in UK, US or anyplace we call better, no one tells us this is right or wrong but we follow what most people do. That is instilled in the people from early may be or implementation is strong enough. We lack both.
As for tax, we pay TDS on salary recieved, on food, on fuel, movies & almost everywhere. Lets say roughly 20% each time. Not sure about rural areas but in urban everyone pays all the above. Do a TDS of 50% and let us keep the money rest all goes to Government. Intead of seeing a good amount at beginning of month and then realising where all the money went at end, its better we see a realistic one. May not be a very good idea I’m sure but this is just a idea to remove the VAT, Service Tax, Education Cess, Entertainment Tax, this-that tax.