States should have power to levy and collect income tax

According to the Constitution of India, income tax is a central subject. The Central Govt has only a few offices in states that too in cities and large towns. On the other hand state governments have offices even in remote villages. For example Village Administrative offices (VAO) which issue various certificates like income certificates, Community Certificates, Nativity Certificates etc, are located in all revenue villages. So, it is easy for state governments to know if any particular individual or company may have taxable income. The VAOs can maintain and update data on those having taxable income. This will minimize and almost eliminate the need for raids by income tax officers.

Further, instead of the central government collecting income tax and transferring part of the same to states, the state governments themselves can levy and collect the same. In order that the people are not taxed too much, the Finance Commission can suggest maximum central and state tax rates which together should not exceed the current or reasonable level. This is similar to the central and state GST.

In this context, it will be appropriate to state that the income which is invested for productive purposes like establishment of factories, transport organizations, commercial farming, service industries etc. which generate considerable employment, should be exempted from tax. After all the governments which collect taxes, are expected to use the money mostly for employment generating activities.

It may be added that in United States, most of the states levy income tax in addition to the Federal Government.

Keeping India Clean

To keep India clean, garbage collection from homes and streets, transportation and disposal of garbage should be mechanized as in developed countries.
machines should be used for sucking plastic and paper sheets and bags. There should be no plastic papers flying in the wind.
machines should be used for sucking dry leaves also.
Green plants and grass along the roads should be cut using machines.
The following steps may make people conscious of cleanliness and dignity of keeping the places of work, residence, entertainment etc and surroundings clean
children in schools and colleges should be made to clean the schools/colleges, their lunch boxes etc.
there should be no posts of cleaner/sweeper in offices. The other staff should keep the offices and surroundings clean
Similarly business establishments should be made to keep their places and surroundings clean
In villages and towns, Volunteers for Cleanliness should be organized. These volunteers may devote about an hour in the mornings/evenings to keep the places clean. Their services should be recognized by giving awards carrying special privileges.

Ministry for Disaster Prevention and Management

Elsewhere in this Blog, the need for separate full fledged ministries for Disaster Prevention and Management at the centre and the states has been stressed. The recent suffering of the people on account of heavy rainfall, water logging, floods etc underline the importance of the above suggestion. The work to be undertaken to prevent and manage the above mentioned disasters is so huge that existing arrangements are not sufficient. Even during this heavy rainfall season, while several lakes and dams are full and overflowing, several other lakes and dams are not full even to one third of the total height of the lakes and dams according to TV news reports. This shows that the lakes and dams need to be connected with each other. The water bodies need to be desilted every year. This is a huge task and if undertaken fully, the Ministry would be one of the largest spending ministries.

The suggested ministry should handle not only floods and waterlogging, but also drought, artificial rains, fires, winds, earthquakes, landslides and other disasters

heavy rainfall, floods, waterlogging and measures to reduce suffering of the people

Due to north-east mansoon there is heavy rain in Chennai city and coastal areas leading to floods, waterlogging etc causing suffering to the people. This is time for opposition parties, NGOs etc to offer constructive actionable suggestions and to avoid criticism of the government. Criticism is to be avoided as it will divert the attention and focus of the government leaders from urget action that they are required to take, to redress the suffering of the people.

In Indonesia, as had been reported in this blog earlier, most of the rain is made to fall over sea by cloud seeding over sea. The clouds moving after cloud seeding will have less or no rain to fall over the coastal cities and coastal places. However cloud seeding should be resorted to, after the water reservoirs are full so that there is no water shortage in the later period.