"No Taxation Without Representation" - You may not remember this phrase unless you are a history buff.
It means, simply, that if we are not represented in power, then we will not pay taxes. Fair point. Lets turn that around a little for India.
Taxation is not the right of the State. It is payment for services rendered. These services include but are not limited to - security, infrastructure, public health et al. The assumption is that the "Fees for administration" that is paid by the public to the state is a tax.
So, when we have an administration that goes out to say that it cannot prevent:
So, if you cant protect women, no problem. Just dont ask them to pay you big, fat taxes to do something you... profess you cant do.
If you want the taxation, women want the following representation:
1. In government - from Panchayat to Parliament.
2. In Execution - from IAS to IPS and everything in between.
3. In basic population - our gender ratios speak for themselves.
4. On the road - why are the roads out of bounds for half the population after "dark"?
5. In schools - What is the enrolment and dropout ratio for boys and girls?
6. In employment - What is the percentage of women in the organised workforce compared to the percentage of women in the population?
Give us representation, and we will pay taxes. Payment of taxes for non performance of basic administrative functions is not acceptable. End of story.
It means, simply, that if we are not represented in power, then we will not pay taxes. Fair point. Lets turn that around a little for India.
Taxation is not the right of the State. It is payment for services rendered. These services include but are not limited to - security, infrastructure, public health et al. The assumption is that the "Fees for administration" that is paid by the public to the state is a tax.
So, when we have an administration that goes out to say that it cannot prevent:
- One dowry death every hour (up from one dowry death every 4 hours in 2007)
- Eve Teasing, public beating, public molestation of women.
- Foeticide and Infanticide
- Any of the multiple forms of crimes against women
So, if you cant protect women, no problem. Just dont ask them to pay you big, fat taxes to do something you... profess you cant do.
If you want the taxation, women want the following representation:
1. In government - from Panchayat to Parliament.
2. In Execution - from IAS to IPS and everything in between.
3. In basic population - our gender ratios speak for themselves.
4. On the road - why are the roads out of bounds for half the population after "dark"?
5. In schools - What is the enrolment and dropout ratio for boys and girls?
6. In employment - What is the percentage of women in the organised workforce compared to the percentage of women in the population?
Give us representation, and we will pay taxes. Payment of taxes for non performance of basic administrative functions is not acceptable. End of story.
8 comments:
You have made your point very strongly
representation is not denied .. by law.
and its crime you're complaining about right?
helplessness is different than having no structure
they have a structure. it's same for men and women.
society doesnt follow it
its not govts fault
yeah you may say u need better / twisted/ improved laws. but thats different -- u cant say we wont pay tax if u wont go out of ur way to protect
"women" (and not "human beings")
but i like the post a lot
it's such common sense
and yet.
Onkar sir: things just keep getting worse every day. even normal people are forced to resort to strong words just to get a point across.
Amrita: i am just sick and tired of the police and the administration raising its hands in helplessness everytime there is a crime against women. if you cant protect them, stop taking money from them. you have a duty to make the country safe for both men and women. but you expect half the population (Sorry, less than half - abt 40%) to just stay at home.
you cannot pass the womens reservation bill.
you cannot make the streets safe.
you look the other way when a gender specific crime is committed.
imagine the message that sends across to other ppl even thinking of a crime like that.
now lets change that a bit. suppose, after every crime on women, you go out like hounds, hunting out at least one of the perpetrators and making examples of them. imagine the message that would send across to other ppl.
in the first case, we are saying, oh we are helpless, so if can get away with a crime like that, sure , go right ahead.
in the second case, we are saying, you scum of the earth, a woman is an equal human being. you commit a gender based crime, and there is a fair chance that you will get exemplary punishment. maybe only one will get exemplary punishment. and that one might be you.
Regular reader, infrequent commentor here.
I am standing up and applauding this post.
One question though- where do we SAHMs who do not 'earn' and consequently do not pay taxes stand? Please, I would like an answer to that.
Sandhya: thank you for commenting. The state has equal responsibility to protect all its citizens. The post specifies that if you do not protect, do not collect taxes. It does not say, if you do collect taxes, protect only the tax payers. :-)
Agreed. We pay taxes to the police so that they protect us from physical violence and/or catch the perpetrators after the fact and put them behind bars. Not to make excuses for them and say "He was provoked" and that "Women mustn't wear xyz" etc.
Agreed. We pay taxes to the police so that they protect us from physical violence and/or catch the perpetrators after the fact and put them behind bars. Not to make excuses for them and say "He was provoked" and that "Women mustn't wear xyz" etc.
Hi Bhagwad: sorry didnt respond sooner. went to ur blog from here and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Post a Comment