Stop Toll Tax
Let me say these words without fear or softness: toll tax is organized daylight robbery. We are being forced to pay again and again for the same road, and this injustice has been normalized.
When I buy a vehicle, I already pay road tax, which is meant for building and maintaining roads. I also pay income tax, a portion of which goes into infrastructure and road development. After paying both, I am still stopped at toll gates and asked to pay toll tax for using the same road. This is not logic—this is double charging.
Roads are not luxury services. They are a basic public necessity. A daily commuter, a farmer, a truck driver—people who keep the economy running—are punished every few kilometres. Despite long queues, broken roads, failed FASTags, and a lack of accountability, payment remains compulsory. No service, full payment.
This system also infringes on Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to freedom of movement throughout the territory of India.
The excuse of cost recovery and PPP models does not justify exploitation. If toll tax is necessary, then abolish road tax. If road tax exists, toll tax has no moral ground. You cannot burden citizens from both ends and call it development.
This system must be stopped or strictly limited. A nation does not grow by squeezing its people dry.
Noopur Baruah,
Tezpur
Bagurumba Dwhou
PM Narendra Modi’s Bagurumba Dwhou 2026 address at a landmark cultural event at Sarusajai Stadium, Guwahati, will be written in golden letters. It offered the Bodo community a long overdue platform to showcase its rich heritage and tradition at an unprecedented scale. The large-scale celebration of events like Bihu performances, the Jhumoir Binondini and the grand Bodo Mahotsav in New Delhi last year undoubtedly reflected a sustained effort of the Union government to bring Assam’s indigenous art form to wider national and international audiences. Such praiseworthy initiatives must be appreciated, as they immensely help preserve indigenous art forms, strengthen intercommunity harmony and reinforce cultural pride, while highlighting Assam’s identity as a land of vibrant, inclusive and living traditions. No doubt, the Bagurumba spectacle nicely projected the lively assertion of long-awaited Bodo culture, which was also a tribute to Assam's rich, diverse cultural heritage.
Iqbal Saikia,
Guwahati.