“Robbing Peter for paying Paul” is a phrase used in the context of taking from one person and giving to another. The phrase is commonly heard while analyzing State or Central budgets wherein Finance Ministers tweak tax rates and introduce policies, bringing relief for some and hardships for others. It is time to paraphrase the phrase as fuel and gas prices are skyrocketing. The government is robbing the common man to enrich oil companies and the government. It eludes common sense that the domestic fuel prices are going northward when the international crude oil price is going in the opposite direction. The taxes on petrol and diesel amount to anything between 140 per cent to 180 per cent of the base price. In comparison, the taxes are around 20 per cent in the US and 45 per cent in Japan. It is a clear case of jacking up fuel prices to fill up the coffers of oil companies and the government.

The purpose of liberalization initiated in 1991 was to make sure that the benefits of growth trickle down to the poor. But, as many experts point out, it hasn’t happened; neither it is happening under this government which has made ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ as its main slogan. Instead, the lopsided policies of the government are creating more billionaires. Profit of corporate houses saw a sharp hike during the pandemic when the country’s GDP growth rate was going into negative and millions of people were struggling to make ends meet. The number of billionaires in dollar terms has seen a sharp rise in the last few years while lakhs have lost jobs and industries in small scale sector have closed shop. The net effect is that income inequality is increasing though the government’s public averments are to the contrary. The trickle-down effect of the government policies and programmes, which should have boosted the income of the poor and the marginalised, is not taking place; on the other hand, the opposite is happening, thereby making the poor, poorer and the rich, richer.     

This is evident in the farming sector too, where a majority of people are still engaged, with the farmers’ income growing at snail’s pace. The Prime Minister’s assertion of doubling their income by 2022 is nothing but hollow talk. An inter-ministerial committee on “Doubling of Farmers’ Income” was set up in April 2016 to recommend strategies to achieve this goal. Instead of working on this direction, the government decided to introduce three controversial farm laws which the farmers perceive as a move to help corporate houses to enter the agricultural sector and rake in profit. A government committed to better the income of farmers would not hesitate to ensure minimum support price for their produce because it is the only sure-shot to achieve the target. Unless a price is assured for their produce, there is no surety that their income will go up. The government’s resistance to bring in a law to ensure Minimum Support Price is proof for its proclivity for lip service. The farmers see a hidden agenda in the government’s decision. While the rich continue to get booster doses, the poor are left to fend for themselves.