And for a Friday in Hyderabad, the Agricultural capital of India…. some thoughts….
The Farmers of old AP and now, Telangana and Andhra are amongst the worlds most Enterprising. Ofcourse, you hear of the Punjab farmer, but that is 100{aff5a224634bf574f692c8c7d068a0713fecca4ea38a30d3005107227dbb12e7} irrigated land. AP has all kinds, Irrigated, Assured Rainfall and Dry land Farmers and all crops, Rice (3Crops/Year in Godavaries – some farmers have highest yields in the World), Tobacco, Chillies, Fruits, Vegetables etc. etc.
Having seen most of the Farming districts in India, I am wondering why this controversy over taxing Agricultural income. A Crorepatti is a Crorepatti – no matter if income comes from working in a Multinational in Mumbai or owning Paddy lands in Godavari and Cotton in Bhatinda.
162 Agriculturists in Hyderabad, 275 in Delhi, 239 in Kolkatta, (and on almost most state capitals you can dig out stats) have declared Agricultural income over one crore every year from 2008/09 onwards. What’s so special of their income??!!
We are all wondering how come, with all the Economic progress, number of Tax payers have reduced from 27 mn in 2002 to 19 mn in 2015.
Small and Marginal Farmers – that’s more than 80{aff5a224634bf574f692c8c7d068a0713fecca4ea38a30d3005107227dbb12e7} of the Farming population – will definitely not earn more than 2.5 Lakhs a year. Forget earning…… most are in perennial debt, in the clutches of the “Arthiyas” – Middle-men. Hence, like their urban Poor, they have nothing like a regular Income and hence no Tax.
Then what’s the problem in taxing the Rich Indian Farmer? Already the Salaried Taxpayer is paying for subsidising Farm Water, electricity, Fertilisers etc. etc.
Farmers in India are the most Risk taking Entrepreneurs. It’s really tough….. they don’t need tax waivers….. they need a whole lot of Economic liberalisation, Modernisation and Infrastructure.
Let’s not fool ourselves, who benefits from these tax exemptions. Let’s build a Honest Nation, the Ethical Way, the SEEGOS way.