India's Cash Economy?

There was a quote in a recent edition of Business Today by Ajay Banga, Head of Mastercard in India. He says that Indians prefer dealing in cash. They do not like electronic money as it can mean monitoring by the IT people. Now, I think I have said this before also, but I will say it again. Probably everyone who pays tax grumbles about it. Add to that the misuse of the public's money and one's blood really boils. 

Mayawati's statue-building spree immediately comes to mind. The CPM government in West Bengal has renamed the New Town area as Jyoti Basu Nagar. It is probably set to install a number of statues of him also. I would be happier if the government instead spent the money on hiring more people for the metro's construction and then named the metro after Jyoti Basu (I know, construction happens through tenders, blah blah, but I can hope). Also, every time I pay sales tax I am adding to the state government's kitty, so I should have a say in state finances also!

Today, I don't think there is a really effective way of registering protesting against misuse of public funds. One can always approach the courts, but what the outcome would be is something that is highly questionable. But sigh, what can be done?

The Innovative Nature of Miserliness

I do not claim to be a miser, let this be my disclaimer. Yesterday I came back from Bengaluru to Kolkata and had to go home from the airport. It was around 10.30 PM. Owing to the long line (and possibly missing clerk) at the pre-paid taxi booth I decided to find my own way. I underestimated the distance from the airport to the main road and walked, but that is a separate story. The taxi fare from my place to the airport will hardly be 60 rupees. The rates I got quoted 250, 270 and 190! 

Eventually I caught an auto (auto rickshaw to be more specific) and then a (cycle) rickshaw and reached home by spending 40 rupees. In the course of that journey I was reminded of a small joke I read.

There is a couple and both are misers. One day the husband comes home from work, panting and sweating. The wife asks him what happened. He proudly tells her, "Instead of catching my daily bus, today I ran after it and saved 8 rupees!" She glares at him angrily and retorts, "You are good for nothing! You should have run after an auto and saved 50 rupees!"

Vindicated?

I wrote a post commenting upon the non-transparent funding of our political parties. Coincidentally, two Congress members have been caught on camera discussing funding for an upcoming rally. The CM has apparently given 2 crores for buses for the rally. From where is this money coming? The CM said there is nothing wrong in this as the ex-President of the BJP was caught on camera accepting money.

Does the guy realize what nonsense he is spouting? Do two wrongs make a right? Is he justifying his actions on the basis that someone else has done something similar? Is there no moral thought left in politics today?

No Army for the CWG Closing Ceremony

NDTV reports that in spite of doing all it has done till now for the CWG the Army is not being allowed to attend the closing ceremony as there are no tickets available. Also Kalmadi was apparently heckled when he recently went out to have food. Apparently a few people surrounded him causing him to summon his security inside the restaurant. After that all the patrons apparently started abusing him following which he left the restaurant.

He is probably number one on India's most hated list along with the likes of Omar Abdullah, the Karnataka Governor et al.

Horse Trading and Political Funding

The drama that is unfolding in Karnatka is interesting. It seems to prove why time and again people in India face a dilemma as to who to elect? It becomes difficult to decide who to sympathize with. On one hand there is a political party which came to power after being backstabbed by its partner in its alliance agreement. This government has been accused of helplessly standing by when two mining barons illegally mined tonnes and tonnes of iron ore as they wished. The Chief Minister has been accused of giving away prime property at throwaway rates. Do we pity the CM for his helplessness or revile him because of the property dealings? On the other hand we have a party which seems to want to ensure that the present government goes out of power and whose only objective is to grab power, everything else be damned.

The Congress has holed up its MLAs in a resort in Maharashtra to ensure that they are not won over by the BJP. The rebel BJP MLAs are holed up in Chennai. The Governor seems to be interested in the entire scene shooting off a letter to the Speaker who in turn is taking umbrage at the Governor's actions. This would not be the first time a Governor originally from the Congress takes actions that benefit the party at the state level. 

Now the question that comes to mind is, how is the Congress funding its MLAs' stay? Where is it getting the money from? For that matter where do all political parties get their money from? I checked out the websites of the INC and the BJP. Neither seems to have given a clear list of the fund sources. This is one scenario. We also have people like Mayavati. The money that she is spending to build her own statues is from the taxpayers. The CPM government in West Bengal has renamed the New Town locality in Kolkata to Jyoti Basu Nagar and is also planning to install a number of statues of him. This is again from taxpayers' money. In the media there are advertisements which exhort taxpayers to pay their taxes and hold their head high, to contribute to the future of the country etc. Why should I spend my hard-earned money on taxes when I see all the kinds of people that I have just described and people like Kalmadi? When I know most of the money I pay will go into somebody's pocket illegally it just makes my blood boil. So why do we pay taxes? Willingly? No, we only pay them beacause it would be illegal if we did not.