A couple of days ago, the Caretaker Chief Minister of Goa, Dr Pramod Sawant, told reporters that he would review the fuel price hike situation and decision on VAT decrease only after official swearing-in as the Chief Minister.
Indirectly, what Sawant suggested was that he does not have powers to decide VAT reduction as a caretaker CM.
Well, Mr Sawant, that contention was a good one, but the paparazzi took it with a pinch of salt even as they knew that you, as a caretaker CM, decided to make The Kashmir Files tax-free but felt powerless when it comes to decisions on reducing people’s woes.
As if that was not enough, you took another decision to implement the new Motor Vehicle Act 2019 from April 1, 2022.
The decision was announced through a newspaper notification to suggest that the BJP government was not involved and was purely a bureaucratic action since the CM has not taken oath as yet.
Dear Sir and the Dearest BJP party, the people of Goa have given you a clear mandate to rule and not a licence to kill them with the burden of taxes.
The BJP government conveniently kept fuel price hikes for three months due to UP and other States’ elections.
Similarly, the State government kept the decision on MV Act pending since April 21, simply because the BJP did not want any public outrage in the election year.
But as soon as the results were announced, the hell was let loose on the people who voted for the same leaders and the party. Petrol and diesel prices have increased by Rs 3.20 in the last five days, and today comes a public notice on the implementation of the new MV Act.
Agreed, the MV Act fines would be only for the people who violate the rules and regulations and those who follow the law will not have to bother about new penalties.
But does the Government of the day understand that due to financial stress in the last two years, the people have not renewed their permits, insurances, and registrations? The businesses are just limping back to normalcy, but it would take some time before the debts are paid and the monthly EMIs are regularised.
At least give them some breathing space. At least waive-off fines on insurance and permit renewals for some time.
We believe, if a decision on making a movie tax free can come in two and half hours of watching a movie, the decision on people’s issues can be taken at least in two days.
Even a decision on VAT deduction could have been met if the elected representative wanted to. Govt’s revenue through VAT also increases as the fuel price increases, which is fixed at a certain percentage of fuel prices.
So even if the Government decides to keep their tax revenue intact, it can reduce tax rates daily based on market fuel price. It does not require rocket science to understand this, and Dr Pramod Sawant, who is addressed as one of the most intelligent CM by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech last month, should not have much trouble understanding this.
The only thing is there must be a will to minimise the people’s pain.
Because, Where there is a Will, there is a way.
