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DAILYPOST > CHANDIGARH, SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2017

editorial & opinion

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“When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.” –RYAN REYNOLDS

Short of expectations

Punjab stays a leader

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he name of Punjab has always been associated with images of farmers ploughing their fields, full of golden wheat, of boys and girls dressed in their traditional ensembles and dancing to the tunes of Bhangra, of countless freedom fighters who willingly gave up their lives for the sake of the country, of boys driving open jeeps and of long moustaches as well as large and colourful turbans. However, over the past decade-and-a-half, these images have been replaced with elderly persons afflicted by cancer sitting in hospitals or boarding a train to some cancer hospital located in another state, of drug-addicted teenagers cooped up in a shed, of abandoned villages situated close to the international border. Has Punjab become synonymous with drugs? Has the one-time ‘food bowl of the country’ and among the richest states in the India been reduced to being a pauper with his begging bowl asking for alms from the Centre? Maybe at a first glance, it may appear so. On closer inspection, however, and after going through facts and figures, this impression will definitely change. True that Punjab is no longer the top food-grain producing state, but it is still among the leaders. The truth behind this is that no everybody finds agriculture to be his or her cup of tea and therefore, they have come with diverse businesses as well as been absorbed in the service sector. The scourge of drugs is amplified in Punjab only because of the fact that the state happens to be on the international border and happens to be situated on the transit route for drugs to enter the country from across the border and onwards the rest of the country. But the way the menace of drugs is presented to the world makes the blood of Punjabis boil. A recent video depicting a well-known artiste went back in time and brought Shaheede-Azam Bhagat Singh to the present day where the Punjab of Bhagat’s dreams is rogued by drug addicts, acid attacks, mothers smoking, misery and poverty. Such a powerful video is bound to raise questions and indeed it does. What purpose does the video serve? Does it act as piling more ignominy on an already beaten and battered state? Does it act as an eye-opener for residents of the state to come out and throw off the yolk of drugs from their backs? Neither. The trouble with filmmakers and artistes depicting rampant drug addiction in Punjab is that they don’t see or don’t bring into focus over 90 per cent of the population which is not addicted to drugs and leads normal, healthy life and goes about jobs in a routine manner. But such people don’t make news columns and are boring. They (the filmmakers and artistes) want to depict the craziness as that is what makes news. And in doing so, they disgrace the name of the state.

DAILYTAKE

SAARC stalemate

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outh Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a cluster of eight nations, has most of the time in last three decades undergone a tremulous change thus defeating the sole purpose of its establishment. For any associations to be successful, the role of member countries plays a pivotal part. However, SAARC can be termed the first association in the world which rather than working on curbing terror related activities in the region, has become a victim of terrorism. Failure of Pakistan to hold 19th SAARC Summit at Islamabad in November 2016, after terror attack in Uri on Indian army base camp in September 2016, gives a clear insight into how India’s neighbouring country since Independence relies on antisocial elements to disturb peace in the region. With terror related activities being the centripetal point between India and Pakistan, various other issues impacting the region such as drugs, climate change, food scarcity etc have taken the back seat. Just because of

policies being framed by Pakistan to harbour and promote terror not only in the region but around the world, seven other member nations are being forced to suffer in terms of economy and cultural ties. Islamabad not just need to understand but should be prepared to face terror menace on its own soil as terror modules which were till date active in Afghanistan and Kashmir, have now turned their eyes towards North West Frontier Province, Karachi and Peshawar. SAARC member countries i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka need to take a call whether because of Islamabad, they can derail or put their own relations and economies at risk of growing competition and ever changing geo-political scenario. SAARC without Pakistan can achieve within a decade what it could not do till now. If terrorism can become a reason for the failure of holding healthy discussions then one can understand how much Pakistan is concerned to promote peace in the region.

theBIGpicture India got Trump in the form of Modi two-and-a-half years ago: Rahul Gandhi

Expectation of tax exemption benefits was narrow, cut in personal I-T rate was its fallout. K V SEETHARAMAIAH

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t was widely believed and expected that the first threshold limit of tax exemption would be raised to Rs 4 lakh. Never before speculations about tax relief have come true. And this time also, it is no exception. Print media, electronic media and social media were agog with the news that the individual income-tax payers would get breather by way of raise in the tax exemption limit on the income from the present Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. If this had materialised, the tax payer would have had the benefit of tax relief to the extent of Rs 15,000 (10 per cent of Rs 1,50,000 i.e., Rs 4,00,000 – 2,50,000). Now the first threshold limit of Rs 2,50,000 for tax exemption has been left unchanged. Instead, the tax rate has been reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent in the second threshold commencing from Rs 2,50,001 to Rs 5,00,000 giving tax benefit of Rs 12500 (5 per cent on Rs 250000 i.e., 5,00,000 – 2,50,000). Evidently tax benefit of Rs 12500 has been given and this benefit accrues to all irrespective of the size of income. By sleight of hand, Jaitley has given less tax relief to the individual income tax payers by Rs. 2500 (Rs. 15000 – Rs. 12500). Obviously tax benefits have not been given at any point of time as predicted by media. Even if the predictions by media had reason to believe to be accurate, the Union Finance ministers both in past and now have fooled the media by effecting some changes in tax structure just before presenting the budget. Expectation of benefits of tax exemption was narrow. A little higher expectation with wide publicity would have perhaps yielded a little more benefit. Disappointment to salaried class has been more a norm than exception. Jaitley would have done well if he had applied his mind to preclude the dearness allowance (DA) from the income bracket. Because DA is paid to the employees to meet the ever increasing cost of living. Travel

The Union Budget had not impacted the government’s demonetisation decision.

allowance does not attract tax on the ground that it is not income to the employees since they have paid it during the course of performing journey. DA is paid to the employees to absorb the increased cost of living. The same analogy should have been applied to keep the DA away from tax demand. Jaitley has placed on record that out of 3.7 crore individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16, 99 lakh have shown income below exemption limit. It means 2.71 crore individuals have paid tax. It is no wonder if 99 lakh individuals have income not exceeding Rs 20833 per month which is well below Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, being the tax exemption limit. It must also be noted that senior citizens can enjoy tax exemption up to Rs 25000 per month since their exemption limit is Rs 3 lakh per annum. Political parties are authorised to get donation by cash up to Rs 2000 from one source. This condition places the political parties in a very uncomfortable position. But political parties do not get disheartened.

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They may try to show that huge amount of cash received is from too many sources. The truth cannot be unraveled unless the sources from which cash donation is said to have been received is verified. The Minimum Alternative Tax has been taken forward up to 15 years as against 10 years now. This is unpleasant news, and 34.8 per cent increase in collection of advance personal income tax due to demonetisation presents a rosy picture. The FM assures that by 2019 all coaches of Indian Railways will be fitted with bio-toilets. This is laudable. There is need to bring more and more towns and cities on railway map. While efficient maintenance of the existing lines must get priority over more and more cities and towns to be connected by railways, there is need to make each of the railway routes double tracked. Double tracks can only ensure uninterrupted journey to the rail passengers. Sometimes waiting for hours is more than running hours thus making the rail journey monotonous. More people are gravitated

to trains due to low fare compared to bus fares. If the train journey is made more pleasant, the earnings for the railways would substantially go up as more and more people opt for train journey. The FM assures that the unmanned level- crossings would be eliminated by 2020. A number of accidents are taking place in unmanned level crossings. The FM cannot forget that their term comes to end in May 2019 unless NDA is once again voted back to power. Therefore, all the unmanned level crossings should be converted into manned level crossings before a new government is formed in 2019. Functional autonomy of the railways, as promised by the FM, must be translated into reality. Late arrival of trains and late reaching of destination is well entrenched in the system. This must become a thing of the past. The FM promises autonomy to colleges and institutions. Total autonomy to colleges and institutions does not auger well since such a step would be like issuing carte blanche for collecting hefty fees from the students according to whims and fancies of the managements. There should be no meddling by the government in administrative matters. But as regards collections of fees, the government should exercise control over the management. Construction of 133 km road per day under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana as against 73 km between 2011 to 2014 is a giant step forward by the NDA government. Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjuna Kharge and many others from opposition camp had demanded the postponement of budget for the reason that 5 states are going to polls. Presentation of budget is the constitutional obligation. Decision to fix the date for presentation of budget was taken before the election to the five states was notified. Moreover, the whole nation is not on election mode. (The writer is a columnists based at Hassan in Karnataka. The views expressed are his personal)

Letters To The Editor BATHING WITH RAINCOAT ON In response to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ‘organized loot’ and ‘legalised plunder’ remark on the demonetisation of currency notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rightly hit back at the former PM saying that the art of bathing in bathroom with a raincoat on is known to Singh only. In fact, Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister was an authority without responsibility. Usually suave, Singh took some courage to flay the note ban more with an intention to please his bosses Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi than to criticise the action of the Modi government. Modi has rightly said that the note ban was aimed at not targeting any particular party. When note ban was enforced, every one had suffered more or less. But the severely suffered ones are those who held tonnes of black money at home only to destroy them for fear of being caught. When Modi was too busy and could not attend the House, he was flayed for not attending the House for fear of facing the opposition party members. When Modi appeared in Parliament and hit back at his critics in the strongest possible terms, they try to obstruct him from speaking being unable to digest the answer given by him. When obstruction also fails, they stage a walk-out from the House. Strange is the behaviour of JDU which supported the note ban also joined the opposition parties which staged walk out. Modi has rightly wondered that despite too many scams during his regime, he does not have a single blot on him. That is why Modi has rightly described Singh as one who bathed in the bathroom with rain coat on. It means the water does not touch his body but he has finished bathing. It is also like lotus blossoming with mud and garbages underneath it, but without coming in contact with the

dirt. Singh, at least looking like ‘lotus’ and realising that his bosses are like ‘mud and garbages’, has taken care not to touch the bosses who were instrumental in grooming him as the Prime Minister. He has tried to maintain clean image despite too many scams encircling him. K V SEETHARAMAIAH, Hassan

MORE THAN A SPORT The Indian government has lifted the ban on Jallikattu, a version of bull fighting which has been popular for thousands of years in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu has become a contentious issue wherein cattle protection and rights are interwoven with human identity politics in India. Jallikattu is age old tradition. It is more than 2,000 years old and considered to be one of the oldest sports still practised in the modern era. First of all Jallikattu means sport not bull taming, ‘jalli’ means coins ‘kattu’ means tied. Coins tied in between the horn of a bull, whoever takes the coin bag tied in between horns is considered winner, that is what Jallikattu is all about. Over the years, the tradition was kept alive in many villages under the belief that not conducting Jallikattu would invite divine wrath. As a result, the bull-baiting sport was invested with religious significance too. Jallikattu only is a small part of the celebrations on the day of Mattu Pongal, which signifies thanksgiving to cattle. It is more than a sport, it is a tradition. The seals of the Indus Valley civilisation depict it, which is proof that this sport was in vogue 5,000 years ago. Ancient Tamil poetry, known as Sangam literature (2nd BCE – 2nd CE), has many detailed references to Eru Thazhuvuthal (hugging the bull). Controlling the ‘Jallikattu event’ and dampening the spirits of the people who celebrate the festivals like Pongal cannot be justified but ac-

cording to Justice Misra “Prevention of cruelty to animals is the motto of the 1960 Act.” The 2014 Supreme Court had banned Jallikattu after declaring it to be an act of ‘inherent cruelty’. Despite evidence that the game caused distress and pain to the animals, and even led to injuries and occasional fatalities, political leaders in the state and sections of the public often make the claim that jallikattu has cultural and religious significance for the Tamil community. Animals are tortured and subjected to pain in the name of culture. SUBHASH VAID, New Delhi

STRAY CATTLE MENACE MCA is least concerned about the scary stray cattle menace of domestic and stray cattle roaming freely in the Holy city which has become literally a Litter City. Due to this four footed moving menace ,you cannot help but see traffic snarls and sacred people running helter-skelter even getting mauled by the frenzied and frightened unmanned cattle herds. Even though the stubborn dairy cattle owners,reluctantly shifted their dairies outside the municipal limits years back, there is not much improvement in the chaos caused by the lack of any cattle control plans of MCA. However some dairies are still in business,very much in the city municipal limits, under the protection of political patronage. This nuisance of cattle menace is further aggravated by another menace of ubiquitous garbage heaps and overflowing garbage bins,which has brought the tag of ugly city to the holy city. These dirt heaps and garbage scattered from the overfilled dust bins are source of fodder treat for the hungry stray cattle in search of food. This also puts in danger the lives of milch animals who eat the plastic along with the garbage. P S KAUR, Via e-mail

PROMISES GALORE This refers to an editorial ‘Poll sops’ Daily Post, February 4. The pre-poll sops are promised at the time of elections by all the political parties. It has become a common practice. The Akali-BJP government had supplied atta -dal free to 20 lakh BPL families in Punjab and now the parties had promised to free laptops, bicycles, mobile phones, desi ghee, sugar, sewing machines etc. Many times the Akali-BJP government had totally failed to pay their bills in time. The parties have made charges that money and whine are distributed to the poor voters by the ruling party. The police are also with them. Nobody can ask them to stop this practice. The ruling of Supreme Court of India stated that promises made in election manifesto cannot be construed as corrupt practices but is reality that distribution of freebies of any kind influences all people. The political parties divide the society on the basis of religion, caste and creed. M LAL GARG, Chandigarh

EASE FDI IN BUDGET With reference to the article, ‘Economics of Budget 2017-18’ by Prof M M Goel that to make India a great nation or to increase the pace of economic progress in the country, the provisions in the budget are necessary but not sufficient. To boost Indian economy, numerous measures for coming financial year are proposed by FM in the recent budget related with taxation, infrastructure, entrepreneurs, HRD, FDI etc. One important and appreciable decision to boost FDI in India is abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a body that clears proposals visualising foreign investment up to Rs 5,000 crore.

Abolishment of FIPB clearly indicates that there would be no sector under the approval route and everything will be under the automatic route. Even in sensitive sector like defence, where approval route is required, would be under the automatic sector in some form. Effectively, there is no government approval required even in the sensitive sectors, which is a great development to increase FDI in the country. The proposal to abolish FIPB is a daring step and expected to create new investment opportunities for foreign investors in India which in turn contributed in economic growth of India. RITU KANG WALIA ,Yamunanagar

UNTRUE STATEMENT BY FM Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, while replying to a supplementary question in the Upper House of Parliament, “Why the banks were starved of the new currency notes for such a long time’, said that at no point of time, not for a single day was the currency inadequate as a far as the banks are concerned, as the RBI was releasing certain amount of currency through currency chest. Contrary to this, the cash shortage had virtually crippled the country and more than 100 deaths reportedly occurred due to this shortage and you kept silence over these deaths. Not only this, long ATM queues had become a routine feature across the nation. Jaitley you have not been in the queues and have not seen the holocaust which people of this country have faced. As per news reports an estimated one-fourth of the ATMs across the country are running dry again and still limit of Rs 24,000 to withdraw from the banks continues. Even today this all happens, because of the shortage of currency notes. S K KHOSLA, Chandigarh

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