Scrap income-tax

Subramaniam Swamy’s suggestion to scrap income-tax is worth implementing at the earliest. People already pay a number of indirect taxes under various names such as service tax, CST, GST, property tax, wealth tax, education cess, VAT and whatnot. And more than 85 per cent of the population is either poor or from the lower middle-class. Minimum taxes will increase the sense of social and economic responsibility.

Hansraj Bhat

Mumbai

Expanding the tax base and ensuring prevention of leakages are crucial for the country’s fiscal management. Agricultural income also should be taxed, maybe at differential rates. The government could implement some long-term measures. Make ground level tax officials work with local self-government bodies to identify potential taxpayer families. A share of the tax collection from corporations, municipalities, panchayats could be used for economic development. There should be clarity in incentives for honestly paying tax and disincentives for hiding real income. The government could consider issuing a different PAN card for individuals who have paid their taxes properly over the previous five years.

MG Warrier

Mumbai

Wedding nerves

This refers to your editorial, ‘Monsoon wedding’ (June 17). The merger of associate banks with SBI is good news from the point of view of investors and borrowers. The merged entity will have much more funds at its disposal. But SBI will have to incur more administrative costs as the ‘new employees’ (employees of associate banks) would have to be given higher salaries, pension, etc. Also it would be difficult to convince the employees’ union.

K Ashok Kumar

Kolkata

The merger idea faces many challenges. The biggest will be the cultural integration of the employees of the subsidiaries with the parent. Subsidiary banks lack the professionalism and capabilities of the parent. SBI must, therefore, bring in changes to improve the efficiency of staff at all levels. Subsidiary banks are mostly regional players. Some of them are highly unionised and lack the skills and mindset to transform into an international bank.

K George Varghese

Kochi

There have been no discussions with the public on this issue. Since they form an integral part of the banking system, the public feel let down. Ease of operation, proximity, etc, are the prime reasons for opening an account with a particular branch. If the merger takes place, the customer’s account will be transferred to the branch of the SBI which may be located far from home. There will be a complete system over-haul and clients will have to put up with this.

Following the introduction of DBT, those without accounts have been forced to open accounts in nearby banks. The merger will make things difficult for them. If the idea is to cut down on the expenses of too many branches, the Centre can close down branches that are unproductive.

VS Jayaraman

Chennai

Language bias

This refers to ‘A quixotic swipe at Sanskrit’ by NS Vageesh (From the Viewsroom, June 17). There is nothing new about the remarks of M Karunanidhi. The earlier Justice party and also the present DMK are anti-brahmin and anything they perceive as being related. Hence the opposition to temples, religious rituals and Sanskrit. Some people try to use the language issue to whip up animosity. What about Sanskrit names such as Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi, Udayanidhi and so on. Will these be changed to Tamil names?

S Kalyanasundaram

Email

The attack on the oldest language by a handful of critics will not trivialise it as it has strong roots and pride of place. Mature politicians such as MK should spend more time on issues that help the people of Tamil Nadu. Even if you do not love languages other than your own, we should not denigrate them.

HP Murali

Bengaluru

Exam blues

The very thought of examinations is frightening to most students. This is because they decide the students’ future. Everything from higher studies, to jobs, to relations with parents to marriage prospects to a place in society largely depends on performance in examinations. Sometimes students wilt under the pressure to live up to others’ expectations. Children are made acutely conscious that investment by parents cannot go waste, and feelings of guilt overwhelms them. Students are demoralised and depressed when they fail to live up to the expectations.

The academic world is yet to show the wisdom to replace ‘failure’ with ‘deferred success’. The ‘pass-fail’ examination system cannot be accepted as a necessary evil. There are a thousand and one sensible ways to evaluate a student’s progress. The purpose of education should be to enable students to build character, acquire knowledge and prepare them to realise their full potential.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Untroubled by turbulence

While dealing with the issue of auctioning of seats on international routes, the most positive point of the policy will not only result in optimum utilisation of existing seat capacity but also result in increased revenues for airlines. Airlines will be able to sell unutilised seats to the highest bidder. This may or may not result in lower fares for travellers but will certainly add to the financial health of the carriers. This is a positive and market-driven move.

RK Agrawal

Kolkata

The new aviation policy should please so-called economic reformists. Planes that fly only on domestic routes lie idle at night. Planes flying abroad can fill their tanks in other countries where aviation fuel is relatively cheaper. All new airlines have been keen to fly abroad. On the whole, the new policy will promote balanced regional growth, tourism, infrastructure and ease of doing business.

However, the future of Air India has not been thought through. If fares skyrocket, middle-class passengers will return to trains and the huge investment made in the airline business and infrastructure will lie waste, if not go bust. It seems that no lessons have been learnt from the Kingfisher experience. To avoid such situations, the government should draw a line on its role and leave this to business people.

J Akshay

Bengaluru

Broadening the tax base

Narendra Modi wants to widen the direct tax base in the country and increase the number of taxpayers from the present 5.43 crore to 10 crore, and that’s welcome. However, the government should reduce tax rates for different levels of income. The salaried, in particular, who are the honest taxpayers in the country, struggle to make ends meet. The government must introduce attractive savings schemes to help the salaried avoid taxes.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

A logical step

The government has realised that in the present economic milieu, the consolidation of PSBs has become inevitable and there is therefore an emergent need to prune the number of PSBs. Consolidation will help achieve economies of scale, avoid cost duplications and create a stronger and more resilient organisation. Capital is a scarce commodity and capital infusion into PSBs by the government is going to become a herculean task.

However, the merger with SBI could pose major operational issues. The best thing would be to first consolidate the five associates along with BMB into one single unit, with the biggest of them leading the process, and allow it to operationally stabilise for some time before eventually merging this unit with the parent SBI. A similar experiment can then be undertaken in the case of PSBs. The country needs a minimum of 6 to 7 big banks of the size of SBI + Associates to take on greater challenges, deal with uncertainties, and absorb high risks. There are hardly 2 or 3 banks now that have the ability and resources to finance crossborder acquisitions.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

Technology development

This is with reference to ‘Sowing the seeds of a crisis’ by Ram Kaundinya (June 17). The Indian seed industry is fragmented and there are hundreds of companies of varying capability levels. The technology provider has to take into account many aspects. The technology provider should make it mandatory to license the technology to any seed company it approaches. The farm industry should create confidence in the minds of farmers for new inventions. The government should draw up long-sighted policies for agriculture. We need a mature and well calibrated policy framework for biotech trait development and deployment in India.

S Muthulakshmi

Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu

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