News
Where are we heading? Some points to ponder
Certain happenings in the country can be brought back into the mainstream of governance. But it is not always the case. Some practices have got so ingrained in the public sector that even if we get a highly efficient head of the department, we cannot change things.
I wish to draw the attention of the President to some procedures from the Inland Revenue Department and to consider some new ideas to form an alternate policy. What we see is that the Tax Department mostly taxes the taxpayers and makes life difficult for them until the dues are paid. But we do not have a system where we can rope in the tax dodgers. If the Government can identify at least ten big tax dodgers, our problems could be solved to some extent. We can even control the price of essential items this way.
We have business people who are aware that they are liable for tax but do not pay. They may not realise that they are doing an injustice to the country. Have we got a plan to rope in the big tax dodgers? Anybody contributing to the till at the temple does it voluntarily. If the ruler is able to coax the countrymen they will pay the taxes. But the way the Inland Revenue Department operates at present makes such an exercise difficult. We need to collect data on those who are taxable, but are not paying taxes, and get them to pay taxes voluntarily.
This can be done easily by the present President. Many trading outlets and private institutions do not pay tax. But if a consumer comes to them to buy something, they levy the specified tax but do not remit that amount to the State.
They are this way fleecing the innocent consumer. If a new system could be implemented the Government will be able to earn money and improve the economy. When income chases prices and prices chase income, it is a never ending sore like the proverbial beggar’s wound. If a new tax department can be set up and if we employ young people to work there with an additional commission as an incentive, we can even improve tax collection and also the income paid to these employees.
We only have a limited supply of local goods for our consumption. Most food items are imported. So it is unjust to tax food items. All foodstuffs should be tax free. This can be achieved by what I had suggested earlier.
We now have electric cars. Since they are charged electrically there is no fuel tax. But the poor villager who has to take the bananas, pineapple, manioc, fruits and vegetables to the market in his motorcycle or hand tractor will have to pay the fuel tax. As for the poor villagers who supply our food, we should not impose a fuel or other taxes on their motorbikes, hand tractor, tyres and tubes. I believe the Government must bring down the prices of motorcycles and hand tractors. The institutions which produce these should be given tax benefits as an incentive. As an example, we can see what the benefits would be if this is implemented in the President’s village in the Polonnaruwa district. Transport problems will disappear. The farmer will benefit. To raise the standard of living of the farmer we will have to reduce the taxes imposed on farmer families. This will bring goodwill to the Government. The fertiliser subsidy can bring about good results.
The Government must use tact and wisdom when governing the people. Security should be provided to people and the country. A proper economic development policy should be in place. In developed countries, even if the economy breaks down, if housing becomes a problem and if diseases spread, there are insurance schemes to help the people. In Sri Lanka a person who is unemployed cannot survive.
If a person is afflicted by a dangerous disease, he or she cannot afford to get the proper treatment. If businesses suffer losses they cannot recover. When we look at many other countries, we see that we are far behind. But we spend unnecessarily at times. Generations ago, we did not have many cancer patients or cancer hospitals. Today, every village has cancer patients. The North Central Province is full of kidney patients. In the olden days, when a person fell ill, native doctors gave medicine and cured them. Today the native doctor is not there. We had local herbs and plants that were medicinal. Now it is difficult to find even pepper in our back gardens.
With the rise in cost of living, people are demanding higher wages. They are not going for alternatives. There are tens of thousands of unemployed people. If public servants are asking for higher salaries and if we impose a tax on the poor people’s food to get the required money, it is not fair.
The country is progressing by fits and starts. When we close one outlet there is an opening elsewhere. This is not the way to develop the country. We have to find all means to provide for the employed and the unemployed, for the elders and children. This is how it is done in some other countries.
Even though our food production locally has gone down we are exporting even the little we have for our consumption. It is in order to export tea, rubber and coconut, but to export breadfruit, jak fruit and belly fruit is a crime, unless there is a plentiful local supply. Since Middle East countries are importing, the prices of our bread fruit, jak fruit and even the coconut have gone up.
We had home remedies around our own garden. Batu was always a good medicinal plant and there are many varieties of this. Now most people do not grow Batu. We tend to remove plants from our gardens without knowing their value. Even if we have medicinal plants we go out and buy what we require when we fall ill.
There is an interesting card that is available abroad. It gives information about a person’s employment, whether he or she is unemployed, sicknesses, blood group, details of parents, court cases and other matters. This information would be helpful to our citizens.
My thoughts for this week
We are losing a lot of our native plants. We import a lot of seed material. We do not need these. The Government must undertake good seed production and it must help those who undertake this work. We will then be able to compete with the seeds available from foreign countries.
Let me have your feedback
The Ven. Galaboda Siri Gnanissara Thera, Gangaramaya Temple, 61, Sri Jinarathana Road, Colombo 2.