09 April 2009: Calcutta Telegraph
Fifth Column -Abhijit Bhattacharyya
A promise has been made to India’s armed forces in all seriousness on the eve of the elections. They will be exempted from paying income tax in case the party making the solemn pledge wins power in Delhi. In one stroke, therefore, an unusually large number of people is likely to be struck off the list of tax-paying Indians. They then can take pride in their exalted status as “non-taxable resident Indians” making lesser mortals wonder why they were not considered for a place on the high table.
The break-up of the armed forces of India, as reported by Military Balance 2009, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, is as follows: army 1,100,000; navy; 55,000; air force 1,40,000 and the paramilitary 1,300,586. One may safely infer that the jawans who constitute at least 95 per cent of the total strength are unlikely to fall under the tax bracket. That will leave a total of 1,29,780 Class I officers out of the income-tax net.
The question is how will this exempted category of military officers be seen by other non-military Class I officers, including civil police personnel? Can one rule out the possibility of increased rivalry between the civilian and military bureaucracy? In this context, one must remember that several factors need to be considered carefully before making promises to soldiers.
First, soldiers are more comfortable with a single window command. Second, soldiers do not relish confused and contradictory decisions. Third, Indian soldiers traditionally join the armed forces for the sake of izzat. Money does play a role but the primary motive continues to be a sense of honour. Fourth, Indian soldiers no longer hail from remote hilly terrains or villages without telephones or television. They are more educated, intelligent and vocal than their predecessors.
Dangerous promise
Another significant lesson needs to be drawn from the recent experience of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission. The initial recommendation of the commission generated severe discontent in the various garrison camps, straining ties between the civilian and military bureaucracy. The soldiers’ grievances were genuine. Nevertheless, the strong words used by the military top brass were equally unfortunate, given the glorious apolitical tradition of India’s armed forces.
However, an attempt to lure the armed forces to an income-tax-free life is fraught with dangers. It will divide the bureaucracy into two opposing camps. it would also be unwise to make the soldiers feel that their professionalism is based on charity. The best thing would be to give the soldiers perquisites such as travel and dearness allowances, which do not attract tax deductions.
The declaration that a class of Indian citizens will be totally exempt from paying income tax, which every Indian is supposed to pay in accordance with the law of the land, is bound to result in massive unrest.
Significantly, the G 20 summit in London saw a resolution passed on the ill-gotten wealth stashed at off-shore tax havens. There were also reports of serious differences in opinion concerning the methodology and procedure that were to be followed to identify those who have evaded paying tax. Whatever may be the case, Indian citizens would be better off trying to find ways and means to mobilize their resources by enhancing the tax base than making solemn pledges which may remain unfulfilled and have the potential to stir up trouble.
The first and foremost need of the hour for India is to have an action plan of unity and not division. There already exist enough fault lines in the Indian society and polity. We could do better with the reduction and not the multiplication of these dangerous fissures.
