By L.D. Pulami
There is no doubt that all responsible citizens in any country have to pay taxes to the government, either indirectly or directly. In Nepal most honest citizens also pay their taxes, therefore, this has become one of the biggest sources of revenue for the nation.
Unfortunately, the political leaders, bureaucrats and planners, knowing this lucrative source of government income, are exploiting the ordinary people by always taxing them in everything possible. Specially, on the taxes on vehicles, land buying and selling, building houses and the import of certain items which are considered luxury goods. This is incredible. Even rich and industrialized nations don’t impose so much taxes which will hurt their people. For health reasons, more tax is imposed on tobacco products and alcoholic drinks, which is understandable. But here, knowing the people will definitely pay for certain things, the taxes and fines are crippling on many occasions.
For example, look at the virtual junkyard many traffic stations have been made because individuals failed to pay their taxes. Such people opt to give up their vehicles, as paying the crippling taxes would cost them more than if they buy a new vehicle.
The government has miserably failed to provide any succour to the ordinary people, it has only made life more harder for them. But Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal never fails to mention that his entire effort has been to foster good governance. In fact he even boasted that if it was not for his government, many cases of corruption, including the case of making false Bhutanese refugees, would never have come out.
Well, that is what most of the media outlets have reported. But what he has failed to say is that no politician has been punished and in fact the present government just to prolong its stay in office, has even protected many wrongdoers, including some sitting ministers. Well, that is also what most of the media outlets say these days.
There is no doubt that many politicians have escaped in a very easy manner even after they have been involved in very large-scale corruption cases. It is here this author would like to say that instead of making the ordinary masses pay taxes through their nose, it would be better to make all those who are involved in corruption, made to pay hefty amounts as punishment for their crimes. But what we are seeing is politicians, bureaucrats and other officials, walking away by paying only a token amount in fines as per the verdict of the courts. This is also a crime.
The government could earn a lot of revenue by just effectively monitoring the source of income of government officials and political leaders and making them pay fines if they cannot provide a ‘realistic’ explanation for their income. But of course, the government authorities who do such checking must first be very honest themselves. Unfortunately, those in the anti-corruption units and also security forces are themselves corrupt. This becomes a huge hindrance in really catching the corrupt culprits and also ensuring a corruption-free society. After all, as we have said so often, corruption is a curse for Nepal and the majority of the people are suffering due to the greed of certain politicians and government officials.
It is very rare to find top-level political leaders or government officials, who do not indulge in corruption. It is the same with officials in the security institutions and also in the private sector. But only a few have been punished. This is a sad situation for the country, as individuals think they can get away with major crimes just because of their connections, money and position. That is what is eating away at the healthy economy of this country.
We cannot blame all the things on the system, just like the present lot of leaders like to blame the system of the former kings. We must not forget that it was the kings right from the Lichhivi period who ruled the country well. We should not also forget the contribution of the Malla kings who gave Kathmandu its unique heritage and also the presently famous monuments and temples. What have the present lot of leaders done despite the constant boasts they make about the development works that have taken place in recent decades? These leaders have only built their own houses and made this once beautiful city of Kathmandu, a concrete jungle full of dust and pollution besides giving shelter to cunning thugs.
So it is high time that the political leaders, bureaucrats and so-called’ intellectuals’ realize that only depending on remittance or increasing taxes on every item is not enough to bring progress to the country. More efforts should be made to encourage individuals to stay back in the country, invest in sectors which will prove beneficial in the long run and prompt the country’s skilled manpower to also work in all parts of the nation so that the entire people will feel the presence of the government. Just slogans and boasts of local-level governance are not enough, the people must really feel that the government is within reach from their homes in the villages also.
Many of these so-called ‘elite societies’ don’t care what happens to the country as long as they have bank accounts abroad and also a place to live in if Nepal really becomes a ‘nightmarish’ nation. That is why we see so many people fleeing this country, even though they have enough property here and they may be skilled enough to get a good paying job in their own home country. So it is not only the poor and the unskilled manpower which is leaving this country. The government seems satisfied by the fact that the nation is receiving foreign currency from these people, while the Nepal Rastra Bank boasts of having enough foreign currency reserves. It were these very parties which are in the Parliament now, that had said they would not let a single Nepali to go to foreign countries to work. But all such commitments have been forgotten now and Nepalese in thousands are going outside every day the parties are pleading with foreign governments to give more job opportunities to Nepalese youths, especially the unskilled ones who are ready to do any job as long as they earn money to send back to their families back home.
So only taxing the people is virtually exploiting them, for the people to feel the presence of the government in their own villages is more important and the political parties have to work in this direction.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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