Roti, GST And Parota : How Indian politico is Fighting A Pandemic -Covid

June 12, 2020 0 Comments

If there is one country that works on Bhagwan bharose [Allah, Christ, Nanakji, Cow, Birsa Munda included], it is India for sure. And COVID19 is a great eye-opener to those who still live under the rock. 

And there are plenty of such people who are still crying India-Pakistan, Hindu-Muslim, BJP-Congress-Kejriwal, JNU-Netflix-Reservation. Only Corona could have shut up these people. It seems even Corona failed to shut them up. 

It is not just the divisive politics that Corona failed to kill, it also failed in many fields viz- the over-rated India Medical System, Make In India, and even the governance. 

Do I sound like anti-Bhakt? Well, I was never a bhakt nor Congressi nor AAP-tarian. I do not even have a ration card. I am born to fund money for Parliamentarians' subsidized canteens. Still, they do not report to work and often cause a lockdown even before Corona stole their ideas.  I am a bruised and battered Indian who had a good experience of living and traveling at different parts of the homeland to understand the biographies better. But that does not count. Cause I am no one and my voice makes no noise, yet I will sing. 

I am another victim of heavy taxation who thought that GST is a good relief. Indeed not to a consumer like me who continues to pay a high price for basic goods and services including the 18% tax at all levels. Apparently, my Tax deducted at source was not sufficient enough to fill the gap between taxpayer and non-taxpayer. So like any employer who gives more work to the most hard-working staff, I am levied with more taxes at every level. Even if I want to buy some food or even medicine, I need to pay tax. I may have an employment or no, but I have to pay tax, heavy tax. 

While government [any present or past] does nothing to better up my employment prospect or make life-supporting Infrastructures, I wonder what and where the government spends that money. A look at large, widely spread, well-trimmed Lutyens area and highly paid celeb MPs, endorsing more products, demanding crores for fees per ad/public appearances, and adding the incremental cost to the pricing, rest my queries.

Sometimes I feel, India problem does not lie in religious wars or China threat, it is highly contributed by system's insufficiency and moreover by citizen's insensitivities. 

China you are wasting your time to plunder India. Trust me our politicians have left nothing in the country for you to usurp. The milieu that does scams even with animal fodders, do you really think they have left any natural resources good enough for you to gain? Even if they mistake left a void there, trust me the citizens/ industries would have pawed them already. Haan if you want to eat beef, you can find that plenty here cause the way cows are largely treated in India, it is better that they were extinct. And then we will see what these self-righteous businesses, revolts would do without them. Maybe they will find another animal to explore, exploit, and sustain. 

The Make in India Mishap
I remember how excited I was to learn about the "Make in India" initiative. I even spent a day, standing for hours in a long queue to enter the exhibits and successfully kept myself safe inside the crowded display of Pepsi, Nestle and all that reminisce less of manufacturing but marketing. There were panel discussions, celeb chef masterclass, and whatnot, all like an idea that fondles self to stay in the steam. The idea fizzled out soon and in spite of hearing news on new units manufacturing more than 1,00,000 PPEs in a day, you fail to find a decent mask/ glove or a single reliable test kit to check the health of a normal citizen from an infected one. 

In such critical times, we have the home state of our PM running among the top COVID patients across the country and yet 

I remember the joke they had on Delhi Police and it's confession tactics. I think it had affected the entire chain of those health warriors who approved a random-looking machine as ventilators and still used on their unassuming patients. Scam, Scam, India has SCAM written all over even at such Pandemic times where the state health minister conveniently gives health app authority to her relative's company who botch up the numbers to show a lesser number of cases. Unfortunately, the minister, the make-believe machines, all lies there and what vanishes is the _Trust!

The only beam of hope at such times were the doctors. But even those warriors were not given ample protection gear. Apparently, health ministry literary took them as Gods, read CORONA proof. 

And in a large number of places, doctors are truly the Gods now as you may stand a chance to see them only post your death these days, if only you did good karma. Cause there are patients dying between shuffling from hospital to another in the hope of some checkup, leave alone treatment. Those who were able to successfully get admitted struggled to drink water and found missing. While you and I thought they ran away from the dreadful isolation wards, they were missing and found dead inside the toilets [ref news].

It is not just the patients that went missing. Even the citizens' contribution fund that was diverted to a new PM cares fund instead of the PM relief funds, remains a mystery. Instead, you get a new line item for the GST- Parota.

Overnight the unassuming Parota, a richer cousin of Roti found himself wrapped in more taxes than the dough- called GST. At 18% A roti with additional ghee/butter found a new avenue to earn money for the bureau, wherein the cow that blended that butter gets nothing but a bomb in the mouth. How about Pooris, Naan, and Kulcha? Also, if I dine at a restaurant that misspelled south Indian Parota to North India Parantha, what would be the tax I should be paying? If I order a bread basket, how is the government going to ascertain the taxation and pricing? And Daal-Dhokli? And how many layers should qualify for a Parota? Suppose the restaurant serves me parota with 2 layers, can they charge me 18% GST or it has to be a minimum of 9 layers? How the billing will be done when I order 4 Rotis, 2 Parota, a bread basket? Would there be a "Value Added GST"? Psss I am asking too many questions, complex ones from a government that announces dramatic currency demobilization overnight without a single simple system in the place. By the way who is going out in pandemic to relish the rotis at a restaurant? Should not we first look after finding a way to cure the Pandemic first?

Psst, plus! You cannot blame the government alone when it has to deal with citizens as absurd as ours. The entire motion of Parota looks like a parody when some of the self-righteous citizens equate it with beef.  Ah! the ever-righteous beef eaters, who think it is their birthright to slaughter cows and eat beef to just protest the government. For them, it is ok to slaughter speechless animals for their meat. And these people cry if someone taxes their foods, but no tears shed on animal cruelty. The 18% GST looks more logical to such reasonings. Or is it Nityanand's conspiracy to move the population to a Caribbean island?

A regular citizen feels as helpless as the bereaved elephants, cows, and other animals that are doused with explosives and left to die on their own. The circus got a new topic to bake their roti, and the common man continues to suffer.

But if this is the survival of powerful over lesser powerful, and killings animals for meat is right, then Pandemic will be justified too. My only regret is- why the self-reliant, sensitive population should suffer? Why the pandemic that shook the world with a bat soup is not an example enough for a more inclusive world? How many floods, cyclones, quakes do we need to understand a simple philosophy of Earth? 

India before Corona looks like a dream and India after Corona appears to be a horrible nightmare. Let's keep the Karma clean and high. Let's look for newer and better ways to live. 

The autor is half Human, half machine. Go Figure or just revel in what I write

0 Visitor's Comments:

Hi Folks,

You heard me...now its time for Bouquets and Brickbats!

My Social Media Channels