Outlook Magazine - Tax The Rich

Our January cover (pg50) examines the weight of a dream left unfulfilled and the paths we can no longer avoid. If India is to lift millions out of indignity and allow its people to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world in productivity and prosperity, those with the greatest capacity must carry a larger share of the burden. This is not an argument against wealth creation, but for accepting taxation as a civic responsibility. Without sustained investment in human capital, India cannot hope to become a developed nation by the time it marks a century of independence. Gandhi’s moral yardstick—the condition of the last person in the queue—remains relevant and will ever be. If that test continues to fail, the dream of the freedom fighters, and of the industrialists who once funded the cause of national dignity, will remain unfulfilled.