It is a sad commentary on this country’s sense of public accountability and political morality that over two weeks after Gujarat’s apocalyptic earthquake, the effete and incompetent Keshubhai Patel continues as Chief Minister. National and international relief and rescue teams including ordinary citizens, the army, voluntary organizations, media and visiting VIPs, are all witness to the complete breakdown of the state machinery in reacting to the disaster. Even now, it has not got its act together sufficiently to be able to tell us the extent of casualties and damage to property.
The peremptory dismissal of Keshubhai within forty-eight hours of the disaster, by which time it was clear that he was unequal to the task at hand, would have given political solace to the citizenry. It would have given the message that the BJP will not tolerate such shameful non-governance, particularly in times of acute human distress. Unfortunately, the party has failed to respond with speed and sensitivity in such a poignant moment, and the old puerile arguments about angering the ‘Patel lobby’ are being invoked to postpone what should have been a swift surgical operation.
It would appear that despite the bitter harvest from retaining Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (Rajasthan) and Kalyan Singh (Uttar Pradesh) long after the demise of their popular legitimacy, the BJP refuses to learn its lessons. It believes it can replace Keshubhai at leisure once the crisis is over, by sponsoring Congress-style protests against his leadership and ‘persuading’ him to step down in the larger interests of the party. The reality is that as a stalwart of the BJP-RSS geriatric club, Keshubhai can be expected to uphold the ‘tradition’ of resisting his exit from office. The party has taken the easy way out by handing over de facto control of relief operations to general secretary Narendra Modi and RSS-VHP volunteers; but this only de-legitimizes the state government further.
Meanwhile, it is imperative that the authorities move quickly to establish the extent of casualties. Ahmedabad-based journalists have sent pathos-filled messages over the internet stating that while domestic and international relief teams have reached the major affected towns (listed on the map), there are scores of villages within thirty to fifty miles of these very centres where not a single relief team had reached even days after the quake. This is a serious issue. These villages may not be known to teams from outside the state, but Gujarat municipal authorities will be aware of their existence. Even if we cannot now find survivors in these ruins, we cannot pretend that they do not exist, and refuse succour to the survivors. Every village and dead body must be accounted for, every injured cared for; an honest count may well exceed the one lakh figure estimated by Defence Minister George Fernandes.
The state government must also move to book the guilty builders whose tardy structures crumbled like packs of cards during the 30-second cataclysm, while older structures survived. Officials who sanctioned the plans for these multi-storey buildings and permitted them to be built without basic safety provisions must be exposed, along with their political patrons. In a disaster of this magnitude, tough action is called for, and the courts would render sterling service by meting out exemplary punishment to those who have literally played with the lives and fortunes of lakhs of innocent people.
A startling consequence of the earthquake is the Centre’s decision to set up a permanent Disaster Management Committee to deal with calamities. I say this is surprising because many of us thought that such a body and a policy to deal with calamities already existed after the nasty experiences at Latur and the Orissa cyclone. I can only say that one lives and learns.
Not so surprising, however, is the unimaginative imposition of a two per cent levy on persons and corporates with an income of Rs. 60,000/- and above in the current assessment year, in order to raise Rs. 1,300 crores for relief and rehabilitation for Gujarat. In a country where tax compliance does not give the ordinary citizen the right to expect roads instead of potholes, clean drinking water, electricity and other civic amenities that work in lieu of the payment extracted for them, it is unconscionable to impose a levy on persons earning a meagre Rs. 60,000/- a year. According to the government’s own criteria, families with an income of upto Rs. 20,000/- a year are classified as BPL (below poverty line), that is, below subsistence level. As can readily be seen, an annual income of Rs. 60,000/- cannot give the ordinary family (of just husband, wife and two school-going children) even a decent living. Those who feel such incomes should be taxed should demonstrate the ability to live within these incomes themselves.
Even in middle class families with higher incomes, the levy is not a good idea as most salaried employees had already gifted a day’s salary to the victims; others sent money to various relief funds. Therefore, the decision to tax the income of the entire year (which already has Kargil and Orissa levies) is patently unjust.
It is high time the Government lived up to its promises and made serious moves to cut non-plan expenditure by drastically curtailing the size of the bureaucracy. In the wake of the Fifth Central Pay Commission recommendations, salaries and perks of the bureaucracy have reached a staggering Rs. 75,000/- crores. Estimates say the wage bill alone will take care of 23 per cent of government revenues in the forthcoming budget. With reforms having made large numbers of employees, and even departments and organizations, redundant, there is an urgent need to get rid of the flab. At the same, MPs and MLAs must desist from legislating greater benefits upon themselves with sickening regularity, while failing to apply the same standards of living upon the governed. Perhaps the time has come for some kind of public say in the salary and freebies of elected representatives.
The question arises whether the government examined all options before levying the surcharge, particularly since the Finance Minister initially stated that there would not be a major impact on the budget. Yet, two days later, the surcharge was sprung along with the threat of stiff taxation. Press reports indicate that a more strenuous collection of pending dues owed by various multinationals alone would bring the Rs. 1,300/- crores sought by the extra levy. Financial experts have suggested that the Government could more fruitfully look for revenues by stimulating faster economic growth by pursuing disinvestments and casting the tax net wider, that at a time of slow growth and global uncertainty, lower taxes ensure better compliance and stimulate demand.
The levy is, above all, premature, as the extent of damage and funds required for reconstruction is not yet fully known. At present, only relief operations are going on, for which private donations in cash and materials are quite adequate. Reconstruction will begin only after decisions are made about whether to rebuild on the existing sites or to re-locate. By then, besides multilateral institutional loans, massive funding is expected from the corporate sector which has rushed in to adopt villages and towns, and the Indian diaspora. Several state governments have also adopted villages and towns. The Government could have waited for a clearer picture to emerge.
The Pioneer, 13 February 2001