Do we know our losses?

Indians do not realise that every single day they are being cheated of hundreds of billions of rupees. This is such an insidious disease actively organised by the government that no one recognises the scale of the loot. And yet, the modus operandi is very simple - the government does not manufacture enough coins to meet the demand of countless transactions that take place throughout India. Whether by choice or design we do not know but the fact is that at every transaction, whether buying vegetables or postage stamps, in a large air conditioned store or from a roadside vendor, paying for our bus fares or the auto rickshaw, we are told that there is no change to refund the balance. We are asked accusingly by every merchant," Don't you have change?" as though we are his servants and should obtain a ready supply of coins from banks to pay him when he is running a business and, hopefully, earning a handsome profit. The value of the rupee is so low that if the balance is one rupee or 50 paise it is just ignored. Some offer candies instead of coins earning a profit on the candy. There are hundreds of billions of small transactions everyday and, at one rupee every time, it amounts to tens of billions of rupees daily or tens of trillions of loss every year. The other source of enforced loss is called KYC or Know Your Customer. Whatever any Indian does he has to provide photocopies of a photo identity document showing his address, such as passport or driving licence, photocopies of his income tax card, called PAN card, and photographs of himself. This is needed for getting a gas connection, opening a bank account or getting a cell phone connection. This costs every Indian hundreds of rupees every year and is immensely destructive of the environment as mountains of paper are wasted. Meanwhile the government wants to make it easy for Pakistanis to roam all over India by obtaining a visa on arrival in India. While the government is actively conniving in the loot of ordinary citizens it is protecting criminals. In a study of rape cases in India the Wall Street Journal published the figures for conviction of rapists in different states. With 130 cases of rapes a year Meghalay has a conviction rate of 0% while Manipur with 53 cases has a conviction rate of 100%. Andhra with 1442 cases of rapes a year has a conviction rate of just 11%, West Bengal with 2363 cases has a conviction rate of 11.5%, Kerala with 1132 cases has a conviction rate of 15.4% and Assam with 1700 cases has a conviction rate of 23.3%. MP has the largest number of rapes in India at 3406 with a conviction rate of just 23.6%. Surprisingly UP does much better at a conviction rate of 56.4%, Delhi is at 41.5% and Bihar is at 24.8%. So, while the government is aiding the theft of money from the people it is allowing criminals to get away. Is it any wonder that India is seen as a corrupt nation?