I am a perfect example of a middle class citizen of our so respected and beloved nation India...I am highly educated, aware, and earning member of society...Since childhood my parents have pressurized me to study hard so that I may get admission in one of those prestigious medical and engineering colleges...As they say, this is the only way by which I can pull my family out of their financial hardships and also fulfill my dreams of living a decent standard of life...
So I did study all nights, begged a job at top MNC and started working my arse off in hope of making it big...
I paid almost a third of my salary as income tax..I pay for my childrens' education myself...I pay for all the medical expanses of my family myself..I also pay service tax, VAT on everything I buy, everytime I eat outside...I pay heavy toll tax whenever I use roads.. I pay for every inch of breathing space I use... I pay 15- 16% interest on my house loan and car loan but I receive only 8% on my fixed deposits and other investments.. This inevitably led me into thinking that is this govt spending a single penny on me ???
I remember the days when college education used to be almost free, we used to get subsidy on petrol, diesel and LPG...There was no such thing as water bill..We didn't need to pay for parking my vehicle and for the security of my society apartment...At that time, govt was spending some amount on us : the middle class..
Suddenly one fine day govt thought that it's luxury to cook, so they removed subsidy on LPG...They thought that people should afford their education on their own, so they stopped creating new schools and colleges and universities...Govt thought that peoples' health is their own concern, so govt stopped opening new hospitals and put on fees in existing ones..Govt thought that it's not her responsiblity to provide for roads, so they started building new roads on PPP model and levied heavy toll tax on all of them...
Dear govt, if I can and should pay for all the products and services I use then what the hell am I paying my income tax for ??What the hell are you doing with all the money ???
I see, you are giving free wheat, rice, pulses in the dirt price to poors in the name of food security...you are giving free laptops to those who don't know how to switch it on...you are giving hundred days wages to those lazy people for doing almost no work under MNREGA...You are waiving off all their loans in exchange for nothing...You are giving scholarships and free coachings to reserved categories because they vote for you.
Not just poors, you are a wellwisher of billionares and high class industrialists as well.... You sell country's natural resources to them for cheap prices..you restucture their loans to benefit them...You allow them to work in every sector and as per their convenience to make large business.. You fill your Swiss bank lockers and modify policies in their favor, not realizing that they charge us (consumers) exorbitantly to make up for all the bribe that they paid to you...
You allow all this to happen because it fills your personal deep pockets and some votes !! In this desperate attempt to save your sinking boat in next elections you are forgetting that we also exist..THE MIDDLE CLASS...
We contribute maximum in your income tax and other revenues..We make almost whole of your working human resources...We go abroad to work and make India's name proud over there..Yet, we feel like we have been ignored..We are being used as a mule to burden everybody's needs..Yours, poors, and riches...We contribute maximum but receive nothing in return...
All we want is some respect, some dignity and some sensibilities from your side for us...I have not lost hopes yet, never will because keeping my hopes alive and working for it, is what defines me... THE MIDDLE CLASS.
very good kapil...keep it up...u have brilliantly enlighten the scenario of a middle class person...i hope our govt could read all this and do something..
ReplyDeleteRahul vasudeva
Thanx bhai..I just want normal people to read it and sensitize them to use their vote with much more caution in next election.....
DeleteEvery middle class person wakes up in morning with single goal of working hard and making ends meet, yeah this is the goal he/she made last night before sleeping. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second the middle class is pushing through lines to work, to do service, to earn that monthly salary which is enough to pay taxes and sustain the expenses. But sometimes in this rat race one does stop and questions self "am i working and earning this money to pay taxes or to sustain my expenses ?" and this article is exactly that 'question' moment. And the irony is that after questioning self, middle class answers self "what more can we do other than working harder, earning more and paying even more taxes!".
ReplyDeleteNightmare
True....all we can do is, using our voting power..because middle class generally doesn't go out to vote..
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