Socio-economic Drivers – Bugged Improvements

I

My Laptop’s cousins if imported will have to pay 7 percent customs duty. Another laptop’s carrier,the finance minister P.Chidambaram, and his improved budget version is again a setback for the willingness of buying computers for the mammoth middle class. Though the prices of computers have been the integral multiples of the common man’s salary , they were taking courage to buy one for their children and for their personal business needs. Most of this stratum used to forecast for the falling prices of computers. If the processing power of the past PCs and present are compared relative to the prices, the prices have reduced fast. But again it went beyond the easy purchasing power of willing customers. Instead of the present policy, the taxes should have been determined for different categories of customers. They might have given the tax relaxation for the personal purchases and the tax burden on corporate purchases to utilize the information revolution.

Let’s come to the tax exemption limit, which have lured the female and senior citizens after giving them lollipops of tax exemption for government’s image making. Personally when I calculated the tax payable by my mother the gain was just an illusion. The vanished concept of standard deduction and raised tax exemption from Rs. 1.25 lakh to 1.35 lakh is going to benefit very little. Unlike the personal case, there are lakhs of female earners who are the main earner of the family. Dipping the tax exemption lollipop in Rs.10,000 cream shall remain a joke only. For the senior citizens the raise of tax exemption ceiling from Rs. 1.5 lakh to 1.85 lakh is also an effort to come into limelight. The dramatic budgetary episode of 0.1 % tax on each cash withdrawal of amount Rs. 10,000 from bank is rolled back. Such kind of proposals and rollback is something like holding someone’s neck and let him free to feel a relaxed. The similar proposals of Rs. 25,000 and above from current account is worth discussing again. The common man is already ignorant of the discussions on budgetary proposals and remained entangled into the lighter discussion traps. And the result is that, the communist but economist finance minister succeeded what he planned to do with the populist budget.

II

Now come back to the society. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has made a parallel law system alongside the civil law. The triple verbal Talaq which seemed more like a triple jump for man to mostly landing into another marriage became a hurdled jump. In mediation of qazi only the talaq can take place. The personal law states that qazi shall first try ways of reconciliation. In case of divorce the bridal price (meher) is to be paid to the wife. Then the jewellary and similar gifts are split and maintenance is to be settled upon. Now the law gave the women a bit freedom out of veil but the law ultimately benefits the man. The female became a passive element, whose price, settlements are thought upon. This new laws shall take time to be implemented but shall benefit the women to appeal for justice.

But being a personal law the particular society needs to look into more human attitudes even if they resist the civil law to follow.

Do not these bugs which have tendency to trap the common man and make them fool need to be sorted out and to update the social-economic drivers?