By Bhogtoram Mawroh
On June 15 last an order was passed by the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Isawand Laloo stating that from June 24, 2021 only those shops will be eligible for opening whose staff have already been vaccinated. In an alternate reality, where vaccines are in surplus and the only reason people are not getting vaccinated is because they vehemently refuse to do so, such an order makes sense. However we are not living in a fantasy world. The world in which we are living is where vaccination rate in India and Meghalaya is below 20%. Even this took a couple of months with the Central Government claiming that they will be able to vaccinate the whole country only by the end of 2021. The main reason for this is vaccine shortage, not the reluctance of people to go for vaccination. What this essentially means is that for the more than 80% of the population, try as they might, they will be forced to go without vaccination at least for the next few months.
Initially I was unable to get any vaccination slots for myself and my family. Until I got them I was very worried. I’m sure a lot of people are in the position I was in a few weeks ago. In my own locality I saw dozens of people standing outside the vaccination centre being told the doses are over. Many are those who earn a living working as helpers in shops, driving taxis, etc. Because of the order they will be barred from earning their livelihood despite no fault of theirs.
The danger of Covid-19 mutation is very real and vaccination is one of the ways through which we can counter this threat. In the last few months I have been getting distressing news of people I had met in the last few years succumbing to the virus. My brother in Delhi contracted the virus. He was asymptomatic and has since recovered. So I fully understand the fear of those who are afraid. If there are no strict controls, the curve which is declining could peak again resulting in countless deaths. At the same time, I have neighbours who have been sitting idle without any income for the last one month. They have not been able to pay their bills and are worried that their financial situation could worsen if this goes on. This is the real world. So are we caught in a situation where it is a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea? Actually not! Solutions exist but the Government has been very reluctant to administer them, most important being the income support to the community to tide over the loss of income.
Income support had been proposed by Thma U Rangli-Juki for helping those who have suffered financially because of the lockdown. This, as has been suggested, could come from the MLA and MP funds, together with the contribution from the salaries of those whose income exceeds rupees one lakh a month. Of course the Government has decided not to implement such a scheme which is not surprising considering RTI findings that have revealed the income support from last year is still due for many till date. This led to the verbal altercation between the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and Angela Rangad from TUR where the former suggested that the latter should contest elections if she chooses to make such allegations. The message was loud and clear: “When you do have the money and the influence come talk to me then.” Notwithstanding the subsequent silence of the Government in the matter, why has there been no income support for the public? I can hazard a few guesses.
One of the most obvious is that the respective MLA’s don’t want to part with the funds. In this case, I would like to share a personal experience. A few years ago when I had gone for an RTI awareness program in one rural community, the Chief Guest for the program was the incumbent MLA. After the program the MLA gave his opinion and informed the community that RTI is a good tool but does not tell the whole truth. He explained that many people from his Constituency come to him for financial help for various causes, viz., games, church, medical, etc. When he provides such financial assistance he does not ask for a receipt. In the event of an RTI although the MLA (presumably) did not keep the funds for himself he would not be able to provide the paperwork. I leave it to the readers to decide how many are going to be convinced by this argument. To cut a long story short: the reason for non-release of funds is so that some can be kept aside for corruption.
At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that some legislators have come forward with financial help for some members of their constituency. This is indeed appreciable but what people forget is that the help provided is actually not charity (i.e., goodwill of the legislators) but an entitlement to which the public has the right to. In India less than 3% of the population pay direct taxes on their income. This is because more than 90% of the workforce is in the informal sector which is characterised by uncertain working conditions and low pay. Try as much as this large segment of the population do, they don’t have enough to qualify for the income slab which will make them eligible for taxation. So how much exactly does this population contribute to the coffers of the Central and State Governments?
Let’s take the example of Meghalaya. Assuming a population of 30 lakhs (2011 figures which must have increased in the last 10 years) and people spending around 100 rupees a day on different items out of which 1 rupee is the tax collected, 30 lakhs rupee is the single day contribution to the treasury. Multiply this by 7 days in a week, 30 days in a month and 365 days in a year. In the same way imagine yourself collecting 1 rupee daily from 1 billion people, at the end of the year how much money will you have in your bank account? All the expenditures of the government which include salaries, subsidies etc., comes from the money collected from citizens. Even for those government servants who pay taxes on their salaries the remaining amount comes from the contribution of the public. That’s why they are called public servants because the common people’s money pays for their salaries. So while it is appreciated that some legislators do provide some help we should not be deluded to think that it was a charity done because of goodwill. We are only getting back what we paid for.
But it seems that the state and its officials have forgotten this truth. Or they are trying to hide this truth and are instead asking people to blame themselves if things go wrong. It goes this way—“ Yes, we are not going to give you any support, whether it’s for running the community isolation centres (last year’s bill is still due) or income support but if you don’t take vaccination (which you will not get even if you want) you should be ashamed of yourself for putting others in danger. So go, sit in a corner and starve.” Pretentiousness and fake self-righteousness is something I have come across a lot and I can say with absolute certainty that it’s a quality shared by many in the Government. Maybe those in charge never had to go hungry because they had no money (I have actually experienced that) or maybe they have forgotten who they were. Either way the public has been left to fend for itself and made to feel bad about it. Class tactic! How long will this state of affairs last? I don’t know. I hope not for long.
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