A TALE OF KACHORIS AND SAMOSAS
Nitish Kumar who was once again elected the chief minister
of bihar for his fifth term recently imposed a ban on ‘desi’ liquor, receiving
applauds from the masses for trying to curb consumption in the hamlets of Bihar
which has been ridden with the ill effects of alcohol in the form of thousands
of addicts who have fallen into vicious traps of debt and addiction, taking
their entire families down the hole. The welcome thought comes at a huge cost to
the Bihar exchequer with an estimated revenue loss of about five thousand
crores, a crucial amount considering the mass poverty, illiteracy, unemployment
and lack of basic amenities clawing at the state’s resources. Hence, to
compensate the fall in revenue the government has devised a ‘novel’ tax system,
putting luxury tax on commodities such as samosas (yes, one of the country’s
favourite chai companions), mosquito repellents (needed in abundance in Bihar
due to the uncountable number of mosquitoes, perhaps over numbering even the
population of the state.) Also feeling the heat are kaju katlis, saris and
kachoris. Hence, the Bihar government resonates the one fact even five year
olds joke about : that Bihar is a poor state, in fact so poor that the people
who can afford samosas come within the crème of rich folks. The people in
Bihar should certainly feel happy, its not too difficult to become rich in
Bihar. Its not long before the police waalas in Bihar would be tightening their
leash on poor halwais churning out hot samosas while the murderers and the
rapists would be freer than ever. While it is being speculated that Nitish
Kumar has perhaps taken notes from the 14th century English
government which taxed citizens for merely
being ‘alive’ (yes, its true.), the country has set its eyes on Bihar
betting whether it would be ‘Jungle Raj-2’ or ‘bade achhe din’.
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