Unfair tax regime
India’s income tax landscape has drastically changed and it’s a pity that barely anyone is talking about it. Over the last few years, the small individual income taxpayer has been paying more tax than the corporates, and the difference has been increasing every year. In 2024-25, the government collected Rs 12.57 lakh crore through taxes on income, a tax primarily on the income of individuals. This was 28 per cent more than the Rs 9.8 lakh crore of corporate taxes (income tax on the profits accruing to corporates) collected. In the current financial year, this difference is estimated to increase to 33 per cent. The ratio of taxes on individual income to corporate tax was 72 per cent in 2016-17. In 2024-25, this had increased to 128 per cent, implying that the salaried taxpayer is paying more tax than big business. In 2016-17, taxes on income amounted to 2.3 per cent of the GDP. By 2024-25 they had jumped to 3.8 per cent of the GDP. Conversely, the corporate tax which was at 3.2 per cent of the GDP in 2016-17 has largely remained flat at around 3 per cent over the last few years, courtesy the various concessions extended to big business houses. It is obvious that this is a ‘suit boot ki sarkar’ as someone had famously put it.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Don’t discard seized food
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials raided an establishment preparing and supplying tiffin service at Parra, and destroyed 400 tiffin meals which were cooked in unhygienic conditions. The FDA team has also sealed the premises. The kitchen did not have the required licence. In the past several days FDA officials have been conducting surprise raids at eateries and restaurants across the state and confiscating food items which have been prepared in unhygienic conditions. The food items are then destroyed. It is pertinent to note that there are several dog shelters for stray dogs. Some dog shelters focus on rescue and rehabilitation, while others offer adoption services. These shelters require large quantities of food on a daily basis to feed the stray dogs. Instead of destroying the food seized from eateries and restaurants, the FDA could send it to these shelters to feed the stray dogs. The food may have been prepared in an unhygienic manner and the food outlet is operating without proper licence.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Cybercrime ecosystem
Citizens are being looted of crores of rupees through cyber frauds, yet there is no strong crackdown from regulators. How long will this digital daylight robbery continue? Cybercrimes are symptoms of a law enforcement system going too slow, being too lenient, and unprepared for modern financial crimes. Why social media platforms are not held accountable for enabling scam networks? Why are fake investment portals still online? The victims’ gullibility is one part—but the government’s negligence can’t be pardoned. Until the state begins cracking down with urgency, these fraud factories will keep multiplying—and so will the human cost.
Vijaykumar HK, Raichur
On open defecation
Despite tall claims of the authorities, open defecation continues to prevail in several parts of India, especially in rural areas. In Karnataka alone, reports have it that the Lokayukta has filed cases against relevant authorities in some districts for failing to contain open defecation. A 2022 World Bank report put the percentage of people defecating in the open in India at 11. More than four lakh diarrhoea-related deaths are directly attributed to poor and inadequate sanitation. Clean and exclusive toilet is the foremost safe sanitation requisite for a family. Siphoning off funds meant for toilets by the officers, inadequately and haphazardly constructed toilets, primitive mindset with regard to keeping the house clean sans toilets inside, acute dearth of awareness and meagre penalties for defecating in the open are some challenges for an open defecation free India. The elimination of open defecation has had its hitches, but none can take away its visionary quotient.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Uphold secularism
While former prime minister Indira Gandhi faced significant criticism for the excesses during the Emergency, it’s important to acknowledge some positive developments from that period. One of the most significant contributions was the inclusion of the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ through the 42nd Amendment to our Constitution. Indira Gandhi recognised the potential dangers that could arise from divisive forces. Her decision to strengthen the Preamble with these terms made the Constitution more resilient against such divisive agendas. The recent remarks by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, calling for the removal of these two words, underscore the divisive agenda that has defined the organisation from its inception. It is now imperative that all democratic and secular-minded individuals unite to resist this divisiveness. If we are to preserve the socialist vision that our Constitution’s framers laid out, we must protect and defend the values of secularism and inclusivity that Indira Gandhi so wisely enshrined.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
