A Middle Class Indian’s ‘Ache Din’ conundrum

Log on to social media today (intentionally quoted first as it causes the most heartbreak for people nowadays) or switch on television or open print media, and the first thing you see is heated debates on Ache Din.  Whether arrived, if not, when will it arrive, what is the progress towards the target of Ache Dinetc.? Some of them are quite hilarious, especially when you hear it from learned spokesperson of main political parties and some of them silly, and some of them don’t make sense.  

Although I try to keep away from heated debates on television news channels, as much as you try, you get sucked into this at some point.  In a social gathering, general discussions, social media, you may or my not be an active participant or you may be a silent observer, but your thoughts get directed to these debates at some point of time.

Probably that’s what got me thinking and I decided to introspect on the status of the so-called Ache Dinin the life of a middle class or upper middle class) tax-paying citizen, living in a city. For the record, I am not poor, neither a farmer nor an industrialist or a politician and do not have any political affiliation, and records of whatever I do with my life is available with the Government through the massive linking people were forced to do over last few years (reasons still unknown).   Then came the question of how to go about it.  

One-way is to try and understand things, which you never will (at least I won’t) understand as it needs intellect and knowledge in varied fields (I have come across people arguing and defending on these topics without any clue of what it is).  To cite a few, – GDP growth, Moody’s rating, Exchange fluctuations, Global crude price movements, Manufacturing index, FDI numbers, Forex reserve, Ease of doing business index, PSU NPAs, absconding businessmen, widening tax base  etc.  I have seen lot of messages showing comparison on these numbers when UPA was in power and now and for me; it doesn’t make any difference as long as it does not make a positive impact in my life. I know it is a very selfish way of thinking but I chose to be so in this occasion only to make sense of the whole Ache Din situation in my life.

Second option is to look at it politically – which is to analyse various issues hogging limelight like lynching, right wing activism, Kanhaiya, Vemula, Mewani issues, beef ban, flood and flood relief related issues, special category status issues, Article 365 /377 issues, intolerance, Sabarimala issue, Rafael deal, Doklam issues, conversion, movie ban, book ban, plastic ban and what not.  I stop here as this list is never ending and I have figured these are matters that are best left for TV channels and its anchors to dissect (end of the day they have to make a living) and do not affect me, at least in the immediate future and not directly connected to Ache Din.

I concluded to take a different way or the third way of looking at it – that is to look at the situation on the impact of this in my life over the last 4-years. The reason being, it is quite easy to do that and I need not depend on external data, interpretations and tall claims.

To analyse items, not in any specific order, I broadly classify them as under:

Things that matter (its not just roti, kapada our makan)

• Groceries, Vegetables, Petrol, Diesel, LPG (subsidy systematically taken out for many) have all shot up. Utility bills across the board, whether it is electricity (with regular cuts) and water bills (irregular supply) have shot up.  It goes up every year for no particular reason.
• Occasional expenses - personal air travel / train travel (incidentally they also have surge pricing in some trains to make things worse) are on higher side. 
• Eating out occasionally – became prohibitively expensive.
• Health related – Insurance premium have shot up and we all know how private hospitals loot us and there is no solution to it.  Yes – there is a grand healthcare proposal in the anvil and we have to wait and see how it plays out.
• Education – obnoxious level of school / college fees continues with hockey stick increase every year.

General living condition

• In the city I live, I absolutely can’t find any improvement in cleanliness.  Swach remains on billboards and in advertisements. I used to pay some cess or tax for this, which I believe, is now merged with GST. 
• Infrastructure remains pathetic.  They charge heavy road tax for vehicles and most times we have to search for roads without potholes.  Whenever you find a decent road, toll is collected religiously.  Toll charges also go up in frequent intervals with absolutely no improvement in road condition.  We are a surprised lot if there is no traffic jam.
• Pollution levels continue to be the same or have increased.
• My experience says Corruption is still a problem – not eradicated as it was sought to through demonetisation. I am not referring to the hi-tech corruption of politicians though it is widely reported that Elections are still won due to money power. 
• Safety in public places continues to be a conern
• Politicians continue to play the politics of ban and bandh for reasons best known to them.

Economics (as understood by a common man)

• 15% service tax earlier and now I pay 18% GST 
• Income tax rates have not come down.   Easy tax paying targets are milked regularly while massive loan waivers by all state governments for political reasons. There were also rumours of reduction of income tax levels once they recover all the black money through the great economic adventure called demonetisation – and we still await for that reduction
• Returns from any kind of investment is in all time low (except stock market which is zooming upwards)

The above list is short as the intention is to address major items. The only thing, which is costing less, now is the data rolled out by telecom companies (maybe Jio was not in vogue few years back).

Apart from the above, there is a new front; I would prefer to call it as  ‘harassment front’.  Most Indians were busy linking something or the other with something to prove their bonafide and existence - presumably to identify and grab black money.  Some people even thought it would help bring back the black money from Switzerland.  For most of us, we have absolutely no subsidy or benefit coming from the Government other than the honourable privilege of paying tax whenever asked for. So, we don’t know what is the intent of this linking which was aimed at preventing leakages. But we still do it hoping for good times or Ache Din.  At some point, the Hon’ble Supreme Court stepped in and said  ‘Wait’ this doesn’t make sense per-se.  hold on till we give our blessings’. For now, people are spared of this circus. Needless to say, we will do this like robots once the highest court gives their nod. 

I know I have tried to take the easy way out to look into this great nation’s problem. But you should ask yourself –does it not make sense to have individual comfort and happiness first as long it doesn’t affect any other person.  I am aware of the claims or defense like ‘structural changes being made’, ‘it’s a long haul’, ‘Country was in a mess till 2014’,‘development is a work in progress’, ‘widening tax base (how does it matter to me when I pay more tax and get less returns), numerous yojanas blah blah blah. While I am all for these lines of thought, on ground, nothing has changed for a middle class Indian. On a personal level, I pay more tax and I also spend more for the same services / goods which I used few years ago. While I understand that expenses can’t come down or it can’t be stable, the rise is abnormal with no value added returns. 

To put things in perspective, it is not pointing a finger at the current government and they come into picture only because of the claim of Ache Dinor the impending Ache Din claim.  This was the case in the past also. Historically this is the situation  middle class is  facing and it will continue to be so.  Middle class has to be law-abiding, tax paying to subsidise all other nonsense, which goes around. 

So, I rest my case with the conclusion that for me ‘ Ache Din’or impending ‘Ache Din’is not visible. I firmly believe this is how one should analyse and pass judgment rather than following talk shows in hyper TV noise channels, relying on WhatsApp forwards or talking about things, which we don’t understand.  

Having said that, we (I take the liberty to write on behalf of middle class) may still vote for Mr. Modi for another term (not sure whether it matters in the overall scheme of things) as the alternate looming around has disaster written all over it.  Hopefully, there will be something positive for us in in the near future though we don’t fit into the vote-bank category, which can make a difference. We don’t want to be king of good times, but a passing good time  (Ache din) will do some good to us.

Of course, Ache din is different for different set of people and everyone should make their own conclusion. So, go for it…. But this is how I would do it!