Economic Highlights
New Delhi, 30 July 2018
Maratha,
Truckers Stir
RISING
DISCONTENT HITS ALL
By
Shivaji Sarkar
India is at the crossroads. The much-touted ‘development’
is there but the pace naturally is slow. As a result, societal discontent is
growing. In the hullaballoo of political dramatics, the nation is ignoring two
big agitations -- truckers’ strike and the Maratha agitation.
While the Marathas for their unruly behavior,
burning even fire engines, could get attention, the truckers putting their
vehicles off the road have been lost sight of. Both the agitations are for
economic reasons. Marathas, till the other day a most powerful social group, a
status they still have not lost, are scrambling for 16 per cent of the
reservation in government services.
Their grudge is not unfounded. Private sector
is not creating jobs and the ones they get lack basic wages and respect for humanity.
It is the Government alone which remains the model employer. On the other side,
the truckers’ strike has disrupted supplies in many parts of the country. Their
demands are genuine as they are finding it difficult to have even the minimum
margins. Among other demands, they are asking for a cut in Central and State
levies on diesel to make their operational costs affordable.
At the same time, they are demanding an end
to “flawed and non-transparent” toll collection system that favours road
concessioners as well as the fact that ‘time and fuel loss amounts to up to Rs
1.5 trillion annually at toll gates’. The automatic tags, claim the truck
operators have not helped much either.
Truckers are also miffed at high insurance
premiums and want a reduction in third-party premium and a GST exemption on
third-party premia. This apart, they are also pressing for exemptions and
abolition of indirect taxes, national permits for all trucks and buses and
doing away with the direct port delivery tendering system.
Let us now look at Marathas, Jats, Gujars and
other powerful groups, who had not joined the Mandal agitation in 1989. They
are all farm-based agricultural communities. At that time they were satisfied
that the system was taking care of them. But 30 years of globalised
Manmohanomics has thrown the doors open for global players and the farmers have
gone into a severe distress zone.
The Government is aware of it but is unable
to look for a system that would give these groups relief. Higher MSP has not
helped them either. Policies to increase farm production have led to a glut of
wheat, sugar and pulses. Should they produce more and earn less? Today, the Government
has also decided to open pulses stock in the market.
Obviously, this would lead to crash in
prices. Note that sugar is also critical in the Indian and international markets.
Farmers are not getting remunerative prices and government job-holder is clearly
envy for them. So why not join the government and at least be assured of a
minimum living standard, which farming is not giving them, is the question
before them. Besides, loan-waivers are of least help to them. Why can’t the Government,
Opposition, farmers and policy planners sit together to evolve workable system?
Similar is the issue with the truckers. They
are the nation’s lifeline. If their work does not assure minimum income, it is
not worth doing it. While farmers are suffering for apathy, the truckers are
having problems of over-attention. Everyone considers it to be a lucrative
business, so there are direct levies and indirect cuts by RTOs and other law
enforcing agencies amounting to thousands of crores of fleecing.
So what they are demanding is logical.
Insurance has become the biggest business and all the time they pressurise the
government to allow them raising premium for virtually nothing. Even the farmers,
it is now known, get less of insurance benefit and help insurance companies
multiply their profits.
In addition, there still is a plethora of
indirect taxes. The 2-rupee road cess on every litre of fuel has been replaced
with Rs 8 per litre road and infrastructure cess on petrol and high-speed
diesel. This was announced in the Budget 2018 and is to realise Rs 1.13 lakh
crore. Plus, there is toll at almost every 20 km, which causes traffic jams,
fuel and time loss, delays and puts a heavy burden on all.
When people are already paying Rs 1.13 lakh
crore annually, which was about Rs 32,000 crore till 2017, why should there be
a concessionaire to collect toll? And for whom are they collecting?
A sensible government needs to immediately
abolish the toll. Not only does it fleece, but causes delays and given rise to a
mafia, which triggers law and order problems. As per NHAI collection figures
the tolls used to cost the nation approximately Rs 25,000 crore. So why is this
huge inflationary levy?
The Government must consider doing away with
it immediately for both political and economic reasons. Further, the NHAI
expenses are not transparent, a point the truckers have repeatedly raised. This
only means the tolls are bleeding the nation too.
Who does it affect? It hits the farmers,
whose products, because of dual levies – fuel cess and tolls – become doubly
expensive as also gives the truckers and farmers less margins. It hurts the
consumers, who have to bear continuously an illegal tax. It does not help either
the Central or State governments as they have to unnecessarily incur huge
expenses to keep the toll gates brawl-free. The NHAI is on record that it does
not receive more than one-third of the levies collected by concessionaires,
which in effect means that it neither needs the tolls nor the concessionaires.
Importantly, the strike is said to cost over
Rs 5,000 crore a day to the truckers. In addition manufacturers have been
forced to shut down or cut production. It has disrupted supply of essential commodities,
particularly vegetables, fruit and dairy products, which is affecting farmers.
Many FMCG firms are also facing supply disruption and so also are online firms’
supplies hit. However, so far there is no move at Transport Bhavan in Delhi or
in States.
It is time to give a serious thought to the
fleecing levies being realised. The cess on fuel is itself inflationary. Levies
such as tolls and GST almost on every tax, including house tax, defy logic. In 2014
polls, promises were made to do away with income-tax, road tolls and many other
taxes. Except GST, which has subsumed central levies, most levies remain like
that except States having changed their nomenclature.
Now it must be implemented. A toll-free
highway journey is the right of the people after imposition of heavy Rs 8 per
litre road cess. An affordable road travel will help all -- the farmers,
truckers and the people. The sooner it is done the better as it would lead to
progress and development -- the call of the hour.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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