There was a video a few months ago, about a woman spewing venom and screaming, “bik gayi hai Gormint”. People laughed at her uneducated and rustic language and the video went viral. Since the day of the Budget 2018, I heard somewhat similar dialogues, but from educated people. So I too want to say the same thing:
Bik gayi hai yeh Gormint – Muslims ke haathon: Times of India and so many more media agencies carried this headline & news – “62% increase in funding to minorities”. And many spewed venom on this – that we Hindus are earning and paying taxes and the sold-out BJP Government is spending it all on Muslims. If only they had cared to read the actual budget, they’d have known that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were included in the Minorities.
The allocation of funds for SCs and STs has been increased to Rs 56,619 crore and Rs 39,135 crore respectively for 2018-2019. The amount given to the SC will be used for 279 programmes for the community and the money allotted for the ST will be used for 305 programmes for the section.
The Minority Affairs Ministry also got a raise of Rs 505 crore from Rs 4,197 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 4,700 for the next fiscal year. If readers remember, a similar amount was to be spent less by the Central Government on account of cancellation of Haj subsidy.
Bik gayi hai yeh Gormint – Udyogpatiyon ke haathon: “This BJP Government has always supported the business communities and people like Adani, Ambani, etc.” This is one of the common refrain we hear from the Opposition and the disgruntled public. If one were to go through this budget, one would see that MSMEs have been encouraged because of only 25% corporate tax for a turnover of upto Rs.250 crores.
This is huge. If a country stops manufacturing, it becomes dependant more and more on imports. Bharat needs that extra push to ‘Make in India’ & this is possible only with Medium and Small scale Enterprises. Also these manufacturing units provide maximum job opportunities. Look at the positives, not narratives.
Bik gayi hai yeh Gormint – Middle Class ke liye kuch karti hi nahi hai: Now this has 2 aspects – the Salaried Class and the non-salaried class. The salaried class are those people who work for a salary (obviously). The non-salaried middle class are those people who get their income from agriculture, consultancy, professionals (like doctor, lawyer, CA, etc.). Now readers will be surprised to know that 90% of urban families reportedly earn LESS THAN Rs.2,50,000 (IT Returns statistics 2014-15). If only these non-salaried ‘less than 2.5lacs’ income earning professionals would have bothered to correctly declare their income, the salaried class would not have to bear the burden of paying so much taxes. 93% of the Bharatiya people DO NOT show an income above Rs.2.5 lacs at all. Why blame the Government alone? We have become a nation of parasites who want everything for free or subsidised – is it possible that people live in bungalows, flats in urban areas without earning more than Rs.2.5 lacs? Only 1.5% of the people actually pay Income tax (as per a report in Feb 2017).
Still, the fact is that the salaried class expect some rebate year after year because they feel that they are being punished for being honest. Let us look at some facts about the rebates since 2014 –
No tax till 2.9 lacs (this was 2.0 lacs in 2014);
5% tax till 5 lac (10% in 2014);
deduction under section 80C is 1.5 lakhs (1 lakh in 2014);
No (fudging) submitting Medical or Conveyance bills till Rs. 40,000 (Standard deduction was Rs. 10,000);
Home loan deduction is now Rs. 2 lakhs (1.5 lakhs in 2014);
50,000 deduction in NPS (zero in 2014).
Another great help is the interest subsidy for first-time home buyers of upto 4% for loans upto Rs.9 lakhs& 3% for loans upto Rs.12 lakhs for Low & Middle Income group.
Bik gayi hai yeh Gormint – Interest rates on deposits in Banks, Post Offices, etc. have gone down: Now this has a flip to it which is self-explanatory. You can also get loans for buying cars, homes, etc. at a lower rate – anything from 8% onwards annually unlike the earlier rates of 12% and more.
Bik gayi hai yeh Gormint – Hinduon ke liye kuch nahi karti: Now this is the final argument that most people seem to give (even the non-Hindus surprisingly) to say how they will bring down this Government in the next elections. Seriously? Is it only the Non-Hindus who use the trains, roads, ports, airports, schools, hospitals and all? Should Hindus use this as an excuse to bring back the most corrupt and inept Party to power once again? Should all the good work done by this BJP Government go to waste? When the Congress screams that the PM is using all of their schemes to gain popularity, is no one seeing the difference between putting up something on paper & actually working on it on ground zero? Are we so blind with expectations that we cannot see that horrors of more than 20 years cannot be undone in 3.5 years?
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Yes, there is a lot that the Government can do for the Tax paying salaried class to make them feel special. Yes, there is a lot that can be done to address the genuine concerns of the Hindus – like strict action against ISIS styled brutal murders of Hindu youngsters, usurping of income of Hindu temples by State Governments to feed non-Hindu causes, restoring our ancient Temples & places of Heritage to a Prestigious position, including our true History and tales of valour & achievements, in Schools & other educational institutions … the list is endless.
In fact, in my opinion with immediate effect, Government should set new guidelines regarding the following with a view to improving the Quality of Life:
Any family (irrespective of Religion / no. of wives) having more than 2 children should NOT be entitled to:
- Any Subsidy.
- Any Government Grant.
- Government Jobs.
- Tax Rebates or Deductions.
- Loans from Public Sector Banks / Post Offices / Government Institutions.
We must continue putting pressure on the Government to address all these issues. But dear Bharatiyas, Budget 2018 is not the reason to vent your fury on the Modi-led Government.
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