Letters: Dole for the poor

With reference to “Direct tax incentives likely in Budget” and “Shun populism” (December 5), both bring cheer to all Indians but also raise several questions. Whereas the government’s thinking about lowering tax rates and raising slabs across the board is a step in keeping with global practice and should encourage greater tax compliance and less evasion, one doesn’t feel it is a good measure to “soften the pain of demonetisation”. Pain suffered by the daily wage earners and other below poverty line individuals since November 9 is infinitely more than that of the rich corporates or even the average taxpayer. The populist measure might help the ruling party in the 2019 electoral battle but it is the poor at the bottom of the pyramid who need help to mitigate the huge problems they are facing for the last four weeks. People are foregoing wages to stand in serpentine queues outside banks so that they can bring home some food. Many have gone hungry, others have fainted and some even died to ensure they can keep their children alive. Then there are the petty shopkeepers and hawkers whose businesses went to the dogs because they couldn’t pay vendors at the mandis and had no card swapping machines to accept payment from regular customers. These are the real sufferers. People like us have managed by using credit/debit cards and cheques. We could even get small favours from the friendly “relationship manager” at the bank to collect our tokens early so that we could avoid standing in queues. We also had access to online purchases of literally everything.

So if the PM is contemplating giving a one-time dole to the poor, it is not at all a bad idea. Even with its “costly error of calculation” the government will end up neutralising at least Rs 3 lakh crore. Add to it the taxes and penalties and there will be a windfall of minimum Rs 6 lakh crore. Allocate two-third for the much needed infrastructure and capacity building of the poor, and you still have a whopping Rs 2 lakh crore in the kitty. Distribute this to the poorest 10 crore so that each gets Rs 20,000. Go ahead, sir, give the wretched of the land a New Year gift.