We are like that only….
We want a swanky airport like New Delhi. We tell our friends Delhi airport is better than…..name it and it is likely to be true. However if DIAL were to levy a Rs. 350 levy on passengers, we do not wish to pay it.
We want good, swanky, financial services companies – mutual funds, life insurance and broking. We want 24/7 call centers to service them, we want free ATM service, we want financial planning services, we want good quality research…BUT we do not want loads, we do not want AQB, we do not want to pay brokerage, we….
We want branded drugs, we want the security of a brand, we want assurance that the quality checks have been carried out, we want to be sure of the quality….but we want to buy generic drugs. It is preferable that the generic drugs are made by Pfizer, Ranbaxy, Glaxo, ….and not by some chotu motu pharma company which may use well water, unqualified staff, poor quality of equipment…..
We think we deserve Rs. 40 lakh salary, but we will hate paying Rs. 100,000 of tax a month.
We want to drive a Merc, but expect the guy at the garage fixing it to say, ‘Sir this service will cost Rs. 1200’
We will throw garbage on the road, and say ‘Singapore is so clean’.
We will make our customers wait for 5 days for a quote but expect the girl at the psu bank counter to dance to our stupid request of note denominations. And expect her to smile after asking her for Rs. 50 notes, Rs. 100 notes and Rs. 500 notes. Happily we do not complain about non smiling ATMs.
We want power, but we will not pay our bills. We will put a hook and steal it.
We want good roads, but we will park all over the place.
We want good roads, great cars, but we will drive badly.
We will give a Merc to our 16 year old son, and expect him to drive at 20kmph. If he drives fast and kills a few people, we will spend Rs. 10 crores of our ill gotten money and get him out. He will not as much say a sorry, but go off abroad for further studies.
We are like that only.
After doing all this we will say “There is fantastic prospects for Infrastructure in India – because there is a huge need for Infra”
Sadly prospects for Infra should be talked about ONLY AND ONLY if there is demand for infra.
Demand = Need for Infra+ Willingness AND Ability to pay for infra.
Sadly there is no willingness and ability to pay. So we need charity, not infra.
If you are holding infra stocks, sell. You should be buying things that people CANNOT live without like toothpaste and soap. The best thing about FMCG is there is no regulator.
Sambaran
Super! Brilliant! Adjectives fail me.
Mahesh
Hitting it where it hurts 🙂 … Hope this is read out by a President ( current, future) on National television and for that 20 minutes every channel to beam it.
Mira D
Hats off, Subrabhai!
Killer last line.
pravin
“We think we deserve Rs. 40 lakh salary, but we will hate paying Rs. 100,000 of tax a month.”. Er, why is the latter a corollary of the former?. taxes should be paid with utomost disdain and reluctance.
if people start believing that income taxes are a)necessary and b)natural -then they are setting up for an extortion of gigantic proportions. i really wish people read up the history of income tax. we should simply get rid of income tax in india. it makes up less than 8% of the govt’s budget. is anyone saying that the govt should not be forced to tighten up/become efficient/cut down waste upto only 8% when citizens are living on a tight income themselves?
8%? how innumerate and slavish we have all become
Krish
We should also question like why our babus/government servants can not build proper roads, ensure 24 hour water supply each day, continuous power supply without interruption or simple task of collecting the trash and disposing it in suitable location (not in neighboring villages, lakes and sewers). These babus/govt servants are getting better pay packages than their counterparts in the west. If the budget is short, they can too raise funds through various means. Why to blame public that every good service that they want is for free.
Sanjay
General opinion is public pay taxes for services. The taxes are not utilized properly.
Also, there is a lot of corruption. One example is 2G spectrum.
If all the money of 2G corruption would have been spent on roads then we would have had a lot better roads.
In fact there are many scams related to natural resources belonging to government. Somebody gives land to Lavasa almost for free. Somebody gives mines for free.
I agree that rich are not taxed enough. For example, there could be a congestion surcharge for cars on the road.
But it would fetch a lot of money if you catch corrupt people and black money than taxing rich people.
SK
Ha! People play the game wonderfully… If we direct the fingers to other side, we think we are getting rid of it…nice. The culture depends on every citizen… not just on poor, rich, babu or gopu.
vinod
Splendid! Bang on target! You just echoed my thoughts.
Advait
One step solution……just tax the MPs MLAs on the free services provided to them by the govt…….better still…..make them pay for the services…..
Sanjay
Hi SK,
You are getting it wrong. Calculate the numbers. You will realize that a lot of money is given in terms of natural resources to private parties. In fact that is only reason why people want to remain in power.
In fact, if corruption is blocked then government’s revenue can double or triple in a year. In fact in today’s newspaper I read about a coal scam.
Many intellectuals argue that Indian billionaire are industrialist from majorly in natural resources space. I hope you can connect the dots.
Also, India has income tax as well as service tax. So you pay tax when you earn and you pay tax when you spend.