Traders reject financial choreography of Nitish

This story first appeared at The Patna Daily http://bit.ly/1o3h1dn

The state which just crossed over the assembly election has been witnessing agitation all around. And, most interestingly, none of them are for political reasons. The state witnessed the closure of shops frequently, this fortnight against the coercive revenue generating measures  of the government. It is well known that dept. From commercial taxes in Bihar came under immense pressure to search ways to make a hopping Rs 4,000 crores annually, which it would lose as Nitish Kumar makes Bihar a liquor free state from April 1st.

Khetan Super Market, the textile center of Bihar, witness Gandhigiri on Tuesday. Some 300 odd textile traders wearing typical Gandhian cap having rose in hand, opposed the VAT on clothes. It is well known that textile traders are on agitation against the imposition of VAT on clothes imposed for the first time in Independent India.
Some 100 meters away Homeopathic medicine shop owners assembled & chanted slogans against the govt. They went on strike on 4th of February when a team of drug controller raided and sealed 3 shops in Subzibagh area inappropriately. In an aftermath, hundreds of shop owners voluntarily remained close their shops and joined the agitation at Temple building, next to Birla Mandir at Sabjibagh. It is unethical to raid the shops and sealed them without any set of rules, says Dawood Ali, President, Bihar Rajya Homeopathic Sangh. Anyhow the pressure worked and govt had to release the seal later on Tuesday. But a six day closure has approximately hampered a business of more than a crore rupees.


On Tuesday alone, Exhibition Road-Bhattacharya Road crossing, the busiest commercial space of the city were deserted. Some 300 odd shops were closed and sat on dharna demanding rollback of the increased VAT. Across the city more than ten thousand automobile parts' traders went on one-day strike against increasing VAT rates on spare parts. Though the agitation was limited to the traders of two-and-three wheelers the impact was felt strongly as the capital alone witness 3.32 lakh two wheelers and 1.10 lakh three wheelers plying on city roads.

Hanuman Sahay Goyal, President, Patna Scooter Traders Association expresses his grudges saying 'The government is on exploiting mode'. Jharkhand & W.Bengal the two neighboring states got just 5 percent VAT on automobile spares, he added. We are in touch with traders who deals in spares of four wheelers and commercial vehicles as well. We are planning to broaden & strengthen our agitation against the rise in VAT.
Indian Chamber of Commerce has a very clear reaction on the issue of coercive method of generating revenue.“After agriculture Bihar’s  economy depends on trade. The VAT rates in Bihar need to be lowest in the country so that at least we could be converted into a trading hub,” says Kamal Shahi, Resident Director, ICC. Increment in VAT rates will lead to a sudden decrease in trade volume, margins and profitability. Furthermore, non-registered traders would bring mail illegally from neighboring states like W. Bengal & Jharkhand where VAT is exempted on clothes and other products warrants just 5%, he added. 
“The govt should control wasteful non plan expenditure first. NitishJi needs to understand the basic difference between tax effort by govt and capacity of the people and stakeholder to pay it. Otherwise his financial choreography will lead the state in financial mess”, rebukes Satyajit Singh, Chairman, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industries(Bihar). 

Amit Sinha is a bilingual columnist. He can be contacted at facebook.amit

SMART is the City’s prerogative, Not the union government’s

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It comes as no surprise that none of Bihar’s city make it to the list of 20 cities selected for the first phase of funding under the SMART City plan.

While the intent was positive, the authorities and the political class, all the while saw it as a race for a chunk of central largese, and not as a helping hand to help itself. State government here for that matter was not willing to put its hands up and decide to put in and/ or raise funds.

The idea is not to just make it to the list but have a system of city planning which is sustainable and self financed. So the way forward is to reboot and pitch with clarity that making any city SMART is the city’s prerogative, not the union government’s.
What is needed to understand well before targeting Centre or accusing ModiJi of biaseness is the SMART city template. 
See, It involves the following parameters
1) Planning in consultation with stake holders 
2) A new template of corporate- style governance 
3) Most importantly, a new template of corporate- style fund raising to ensure that the plan isn’t only about an initial cash injection by the centre but the beginning of a new idea whose time has come.

But lack of knowledge and understanding about the subject as well as the narrow approach of excluding experienced local architects, urban planners and financial experts hasb been a major reason that led to a below par preparation of the Smart City Proposal.

 The citizens connect was neither attempted nor followed. It is important for residents to also realise that this is their city and they need to buy into the idea as a whole. At present there is not a singl group of enlightened individuals who have made informed suggestions. At this statge the state govt must realise that involvement of citizenss, their support and participation of people is required. Authorities must ensure that there is mass of suggestions to build a momentum.

At the same it is high time that State Government should shift its focus to smaller towns in the State so that infrastructure and quality of life will be better in other cities of the State on its own.

Amit Sinha is a bilingual columnist. He can be contacted at facebook.amit

Samosa in Bihar runs out of aaloo, Textile Trade set to loss

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Our own samosa is taxed now and Jalebi too. So please be ready to unstring your purse more this Republic day when Children will throng to you demanding Jalebi. 

In a state like Bihar where every next crossing or signal got a samosa-kachauri dukan without any licence, it seems illogical to target a big revenue from a few ‘luxury’ restaurants in this segment. We don't know where the government is heading with this call, but one thing is clear government is trying to divert media attention while development issues are lagging behind. I came through an interesting story at firstpost http://bit.ly/1l91shZ reveals how this govt. is working on development issues. 

Money will not come from heaven, reacts Nitish Kumar on Saturday when a group of cloth traders handed him their demand to roll back the newly imposed tax on cloth. It is well known that the decision to charge more than a dozen items of aam-admi has been taxed or the tax increased on them, after the government anticipated a shortfall in revenue because of the ban on liquor from April 1. 
Bihar’s well known Industrialist Satyajit Singh says chief minister commits nischay without evaluating resources. At the same time the non-plan expenditure has swelled to a record 59.23 thousand crores. Bihar government must control wasteful non plan expenditure first before commenting that money will not come from heaven. Satyajit Singh is very upset with government tax (ing) policies. He is afraid that the financial choreography by Nitish will lead the state in the great financial mess. 

The fate of about 1 million small businessmen associated with textile industry has been left in the lurch as State government imposed VAT of 5% on premium segments (above Rs. 2000 or Rs. 500/meter) clothes, Sarees and all dress materials. It is for the first time in any state that textile been adhered to VAT. Furthermore, the readymade garments now attract an entry fee of 5% in addition to VAT. 
Ranjeet Singh, Secretary, Bihar Textile Chamber of Commerce argues "if shops in Patna will sell costlier people will go to Banaras, Kolkatta or Delhi for their Shaadi & Lagan". He also said Bihar would become the first state to collect 5% entry tax on the fabrics being imported from other parts of the country. He said over 1 lakh traders participated in the 48 hours band on 21st and 22nd January and on 27 of this month we will meet with the Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss further strategy. Bihar Garment Manufacturer and Dealer Association president Mukesh Jain said nowhere in the country such taxes are imposed on garment business. Shaadi and Lagan contribute to 75-80 percent of overall annual sell. And premium clothing, Benarasi sarees etc is in huge demand for these purposes. If end customer will bring it themselves government won't get a penny of revenue. This seems to be politically motivated, he lambasted. 

Amit Sinha is a bilingual columnist. He can be contacted at facebook.amit

Fallacy of rising intellect

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Our school children are said to be faring very poorly when it comes to skills in reading, writing, mathematics and science. Globally, we now stand 62nd on this measure, well behind even Jordan and Armenia. Still, we believe India is intellectually rising.

We are living in a state of fallacy that India is intellectually rising on the basis of the fact that our school grades are getting better every year. And with surfacing of RTE(Right To Education, Act) the situation is shifting from bad to worst.

There is a policy of not failing students and promoting them till Standard VIII even if they perform below par ( part of the plan of the Right to Education Act of 2009). 

Students thus promoted cannot even write three- digit numbers, leave alone adding or subtracting them. 

Five years after the implementation of the RTE Act 2009, the fact that only an average of 48 per cent of Class V children in India can read a Class II level text, as per a survey conducted recently, is a worrying sign of the abject failure of the Indian education policy. 

In India parents are crazy for English-medium schools and there is a deep root feeling which places them on a higher pedestal. As English is not their mother tongue, much of their energy is wasted in understanding the subject and then mugging up answers and rewriting at home what their teachers wrote on the blackboard or dictated to them.

There can be no two options about the need to recognize the loose vault of our education system. Those pointing out its root cause to be lying in higher education system perhaps ignore that the need of correction needs to be sowed in the primary and secondary- level education. This does not happen in the existing system.

Some schools may boast of the assignment projects given to students. In a majority of cases, the projects are done by parents, neighbours or tutors because the children simply have no energy to do them. When they reach Standard X, they are advised by their teachers not to write even a single word from outside the textbook in the Board examination, lest a paper examiner fails to understand and gives them poor marks. This phenomeon continues with senior secondary, and by then students become robot. And sure a robot fails as any machine does. But in real life there is no retake. 

Thousands of meritorious students denied admission in Delhi University every year. The admission cut off list released by the Delhi University for the last couple of years has surprised every one including the student and parents community too. They surprised and ask Is it justifiable on part of the DU to increase the cut off to 100%?

These high cut off rates released by the Delhi University and some others are not at all justified. Cut off lists cannot portray the intellectual ability of a candidate. Intellectual ability can be tested only through IQ's and interviews. A 100 percent cut off is pointless as they would only get brilliant students and in the long run, it will push away more prospective students. 

Fixing for such high percentages for cut offs is illogical and it only adds to the academic pressure. There is already too much pressure on the students to perform well in the internal and external exams. 

Today’s teachers are lazy and students are more lazy. They make them dependent on search engines. Teachers allow them to copy paste from internet. They allow such unethical practices under their nose. Experts in the field of education are of the opinion that bad teachers and lazy students coupled with unethical grade inflation in school and college results is the primary cause for the abysmal and failing standards of education in India. More and more students are getting higher and higher marks, but the standard of education is going in the opposite direction. Over the years, our students are getting better and better grades on paper, but this has in no way helped to push up our knowledge levels. 

Amit Sinha is a bilingual columnist. He can be contacted at facebook.amit

Disheartening state of consumer courts

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It was initially decided to prohibit lawyers from representing consumers, but this was not considered prudent. Public in Consumer Courts do not require lawyers, and procedures were simple. Foreign lawyer invitees praised it as one of the finest Acts on this subject in the world! However more and more lawyers started thronging these courts bringing their bad habits, adjournments and some exploiting litigants.

Many times, better to say, most of the times scheduled case was sought to be adjourned or delayed because a lawyer of the opposite party requested postponement for his convenience. I had to object to lawyers occupying the front benches and area, making it uncomfortable for me to stand and state my case. People go to court for quick justice and maximum time in normal circumstances is laid down as 3 months. This rarely happens.


Very briefly, Consumer Courts comprise of a Patna District Forum(claims up to Rs 20 lakhs), Bihar State Commission(above Rs 20 lakhs to Rs 1 crore) and National Commission New Delhi ( more than Rs 1 crore and final appeal).

One can witness our government paying lip service to the Act and also neglecting the Consumer Courts. The ex consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak did nothing to improve conditions there. More than a dozen posts from the rank of executive officers to the post of security guard have been lying vaccant for long. 

At one of my interview on Wednesday, a cabinet minister unofficially admits that “apko kya lagta hai yehan CM aur Supe CM ke icchhaa ke bina hum kuch kar sakte hai”.  He further murmurs that this government withdrew case that goes against its allies. It becomes headline of every daily but in democracy you(media) can’t do more than this, he added. 

The Consumer Courts are in unsatisfactory condition. At regular intervals authorities have been hauled up bye the High Court for not complying its orders, still thing never change. The Hon’ble High Court can order the government, but compliance of order never meets to full. Here as a petitioner you have to beg to authorities for compliance and then they do nothing.

For example on a bus trip from the official Bihar Rajya Paryatan Nigam anywhere from Patna, en route the bus will stop for passengers to have a meal break. The restaurant will have unhygienic loos and wash areas, stalls charge well over MRP, not issue receipts and so on! Why is this exploitation still permitted when eating places are licensed, there are laws to be followed, and a big government organization with departments having many inspectors and enforcing agents to ensure the consumer is protected? 
If a complaint is brought to the Consumer Court, perhaps only that particular defaulter will be pulled up. In fact the government is responsible that such a situation exists in the first place! There is no “ Prevention better than cure” mindset. Complaint is needed for action. We have not been able to control adulteration, cheating and our chalta hai attitude.

Amit Sinha is a bilingual writer and research Journalist. He can be contacted at facebook.amit