Long before the coronavirus pandemic, college costs had already entered unprecedented territory. According to a study by Broke Scholar, the average cost of tuition and fees — in inflation-adjusted dollars — at both private and public schools has more than tripled from the academic year 1971-72 to 2019-2020.

• In 1971-72, average tuition and fees at a private nonprofit four-year institution cost $11,540 in 2019 dollars. For the 2019-20 academic year, the current average cost is $36,880 for tuition and fees: an increase of 220%.
• In 1971-72, average tuition and fees at a public four-year institution cost $2,710 in 2019 dollars. For the 2019-20 academic year, the current average cost is $7,730: an increase of 285%, which means it nearly quadrupled.

Thus, the costs associated with attending a college or university were already moving in an unfavourable direction for the average American household. But throwing the COVID-19 pandemic into the equation is now presenting a multitude of issues that could accelerate this trend or send it off into erratic directions. On the other side of the equation, the colleges are facing troubling financial straits due to the disruption in tuition, fees and on-campus life.

“When it comes to higher education institutions, the pandemic has had — and will continue to have — a drastic financial impact. Institutions are suffering from lost revenue to partial tuition refunds, room and board, fees, etc.,” said Michael Hansen, CEO of Cengage. “For example, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees 14 universities, including the first HBCU (historically black college and university) of Cheyney University, and 17,000-student West Chester University, is projecting a $100 million loss from room and board and other fees. And the University of Wisconsin at Madison is estimating a $100 million loss due to COVID-19 impacts, which does not include potential lost revenue from lower enrolment in the fall. While a select few institutions have large endowments to help them navigate through this unprecedented period, the majority do not.”

PARENTS FROM DIFFERENT STATES MOVES SC SEEKING MORATORIUM ON SCHOOL FEES FOR LOCKDOWN PERIOD

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by the parents of children from different States seeking declaration of moratorium or deferment of payment of school fees during the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

The plea also seeks direction to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees from the students since April 1 till the commencement of physical classes.

“The Petitioners belonging to different states of the country have come together being constrained to approach this Court seeking inter alia the protection of fundamental right to life as well as education guaranteed under the Constitution of India, 1950 which the children & students enrolled up to the Class XII of various Indian states are being deprived of due to supervening factors namely, the ongoing pandemic- COVID-19 period,” the plea said.

It said that due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, financially incapacitated parents have to bear the brunt of the fees of the children, even after being faced with constant financial and emotional hardships which may leave a few of them with no option but to withdraw their children or students from seeking institutional/school education for an unforeseeable period of time.

“The Petitioners are also aggrieved apart from other issues as raised in the present petition by the unorganised and adversely influencing education imparted in the name of online classes, without addressing the supervening factors of incapacity of 25 per cent EWS category students, adverse impact of education of children of unregulated online education for students of Standard Nursery to 5th and for other students as well,” the plea said.

The parents through the petition filed through advocate Mayank Kshirsagar and drawn by advocate Pankhuri said that they are highlighting various factors leading to creation of hostile discrimination of children and parents of various states in India as some protection may be available for children or students in some states and the same may not be available in other states.

Parents of the school going children who have moved the top court hail from Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Maharashtra.

In their plea they said that considering the adverse impact of online education, ban has been imposed by Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh while other States have not considered its impact.

It said that after COVID-19 disease was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 25, 2020, a country wide lockdown was announced whereby all the activities including the educational sector were shut down completely having a catastrophic effect over the economy of the country with many people losing their jobs or getting a deducted or nil income and facing immense sufferings in their daily life.

“The school going children and students were unable to attend the physical classes at their respective schools. Some of the private aided/unaided schools made arrangements for online classes in April, 2020 however the same has not been universally made available and even cases where no online classes are being conducted the schools are charging normal fees and rather some schools have hiked the fees,” the plea said.

It added that many of the schools hiked their fees and/or started harassing the students’ parents to pay the entire quarterly fees in advance despite the non-functioning of the schools and the students not availing any of the services provided by the schools.

The petition said that despite circulars issued by various States asking private aided/unaided schools ought not to hike their fees in the times of the pandemic, no substantial relief in the form of waiver of fees, or reduced fees, or proportionate fees as per actual expenditure etc. was granted to the students in most of the states, leaving their parents with a huge financial burden to bear, impliedly resulting in the student’s right to life and education getting infringed and violated.

“It is further noteworthy that no specific provision/direction was issued by various states as mentioned with regard to the 25 per cent economically and socially backward/weaker students under the RTE Act, 2009,” it said.

The plea sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing all the private unaided/aided schools to not charge any fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools for a period of three months starting from April 1 till July 1 or till the commencement of offline/physical school classes.

It also sought directions to Centre and all the States for directing schools to only charge the proportionate fees based on actual expenditure towards the conduct of the online virtual classes and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students of such schools since April 1 till the commencement of offline/physical school classes.

The petition said that direction be issued to schools to only charge the ‘tuition fees’ and no other fees whatsoever from the enrolled students since April 1 till physical classes resumes.

IMPACT OF THE SCHOOL FEE PAYMENT PROBLEM ON TEACHING STAFF

However, while there is uninterrupted dissemination of education services provided by our valiant teaching staff despite awaiting their dues, their sacrifices along with the non-teaching staff must be appreciated.

It must also be noted that these teachers who are going beyond the call of duty are solely dependent on their salaries for their livelihood.

There are an approximate 5 Crore teaching and non-teaching staff employed in over two Lakh schools across India who are hoping that parents come forward at the time of crisis so that salaries can be paid to the staffers.

Here, the government and parents should ensure teachers’ concerns are considered by releasing adequate funds as an immediate resort which will help reduce the financial strain on them.

The government, state bodies, education boards, financial and educational institutions, and parents should jointly formulate a mechanism to make sure that academics and institutions don’t come to a grinding halt or a closure due to paucity of funds.

 

HERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE TO SOLVE THE SCHOOL FEE PAYMENT ISSUE DURING LOCKDOWN

1. Providing interest-free loans to parents to pay fees as education is a part of the priority lending sector

This will ensure that no pillar of India’s growth will be compromised due to dearth of funds.

While RBI has on numerous occasions infused stimulus packages in our economy, this would be the first time the Central Bank can issue loans with zero interest and also provide relaxation in payment tenure for schools and higher education fees.

2. Interest-free loans should be extended to schools to pay salaries

The past decade has witnessed many sectors benefiting from the Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India to prevent collapse of business and these sops have helped these sectors revive their growth story.

While education is part of a priority lending sector, granting them interest-free loans to pay fees for crore of teaching and non-teaching staff would immensely help them and also reduce the burden of the parents who are obligated to pay timely fees.

This would also help conduct urgent repairs in schools to prepare them for the resumption of the academic year post-pandemic.

3. Provide subsidies for school bus operators due to drop in oil prices

The world has witnessed a slump in the oil market and while it is important for India to adjust costs owing to the pandemic by keeping a check on the excise rates and taxes on petroleum products.

Citing the present state of affairs, the government should also look into certain tax breaks or subsidies to aid these operators. This will have a direct bearing on the economics of every parent who are sending their children to school.

-By Sivam Pathak
More than 7000 feet above sea level in Andes Mountains stands an emblem of ancient Inca Civilization that still reminds us the days of Inca’s prosperity and rich culture. This bygone emblem is
known as Machu Picchu. In Quechua language Machu Picchu is often interpreted as Old Mountain. Located north-west of Cusco, Peru, Machu Picchu is a testament to the potential and brilliance of the Inca engineering. At the time when Inca Civilization was at its zenith, the empire stretched about 2500 miles alongside South-America’s Pacific coastline from modern day Ecuador down to Chile. Machu Picchu stands at the centre of this once wide-ranging empire. It is one of the few monuments and structures that are surviving and well-preserved up to this day.
Over a long time the existence of Machu Picchu was unknown to the world. Even Spanish Conquistadors who invaded the Inca Empire in 16th century never stumble upon the site. But on 24th July, 1911 a professor from Yale University, Hiram Bingham,
came across the site with the help of a local farmer Melchor Art Yaga, and brought it to the international attention. Bingham and other successive explorers devoted much of their academic careers to unravel the mysteries of this archaeological wonder. Machu Picchu (That was build around 1450 A.D.) was declared a Peruvian Historic Sanctuary in 1981 and a world heritage site in 1983. On 7th July, 2007, when it was winter season in Peru, Machu Picchu was included in the renowned list of New Seven Wonders of the world.

Today Machu Picchu has 200 buildings that are regarded as architectural wonders. These 200 buildings entail urban sectors, agricultural sectors, an upper town and a lower town. The temples are basically located in the upper town, and warehouses in the lower town. Despite Machu Picchu’s enigmatic nature, visitors from all around the world come to pay homage to this marvelous piece of history. Therefore, it won’t be wrong to remark the stone city of Machu Picchu as one of the most fascinating archaeological sites on the planet.

–By Shivam Pathak
“You that in far-off countries of the sky can dwell secure, look back upon me here; for I am weary of this frail world’s decay”. These are the very words of the first novel (Originally inscribed in Japanese) ever known to the world. To Japanese it is Genji Monogatari and throughout the world it is known as The Tale of Gengi. The genesis of this eminent piece of writing can be traced back some one thousand years ago during Heian period in Japan when a noble girl was born into the Northern Fujiwara clan. The girl was named Murasaki Shikibu. The period in which she was born was very invidious for women. Women of that period were thought to be incompetent of real intelligence, and therefore were not educated.
Even if they were educated they were only permitted to learn Japanese language and not Chinese language because the education of Chinese
language was not regarded as a women’s attribute. Education of Chinese language was only limited to men of the imperial court. But Murasaki, raised in her erudite father’s household, showed a precocious predilection for the Chinese classics and soon managed to acquire fluency in Chinese.
At around 20 Shikibu married Fujiwara No Nobutaka, and gave birth to a girl (named Kataiko) in 999. Two years later Nobutaka died, and left behind his wife as a widow. In 1005, Murasaki was invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to empress Shoshi at the imperial court. Murasaki also served the empress as a tutor of Chinese language in private due to empress Shoshi’s penchant for the Chinese language, and after all Chinese education for women was not considered as legal. In the imperial court
Murasaki met many other wise women, and to some of them she gave a fierce competition in wise discussions. One such rival of Murasaki in the
imperial court was Sei Shonagon, who was in service of empress Teishi as a lady-in-waiting. Murasaki’s personal diary shows that she and Shonago were not on good terms. Heian period was also witnessing a time of Japan’s cultural insurgence. In Murasaki’s lifetime, men continued to write formally in Chinese, but Kana became the language of intimacy and of noble women. Kana set the foundation for unique forms of Japanese literature.

To take Japanese literature to its zenith, Murasaki Shikibo wrote the first novel of the world- “The Tale of Genji”, and ultimately became world’s first ever known novelist. However, some people consider it as a controversial statement, but to many Murasaki is the world’s first novelist. Therefore “The Tale of Genji”, a novel of 54 chapters written in Hiragana script, took Japanese literature to its pinnacle. Today it is translated in many languages, and read throughout the world.

In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other. It typically involves keeping a certain distance from others (the distance specified may differ from time to time and country to country) and avoiding gathering together in large groups.

By reducing the probability that a given uninfected person will come into physical contact with an infected person, the disease transmission can be suppressed, resulting in fewer deaths. The measures are used in combination with good respiratory hygiene, face masks and hand washing by a population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested favouring the term “physical distancing” as opposed to “social distancing”, in keeping with the fact that it is a physical distance which prevents transmission; people can remain socially connected via technology. To slow down the spread of infectious diseases and avoid overburdening healthcare systems, particularly during a pandemic, several social-distancing measures are used, including the closing of schools and workplaces, isolation, quarantine, restricting the movement of people and the cancellation of mass gatherings.

 Although the term was introduced only in the 21st century, social-distancing measures date back to at least the 5th century BC. The Bible contains one of the earliest known references to the practice in the Book of Leviticus 13:46: “And the leper in whom the plague is… he shall dwell alone; [outside] the camp shall his habitation be.” During the Plague of Justinian of 541 to 542, Emperor Justinian enforced an ineffective quarantine on the Byzantine Empire, including dumping bodies into the sea; he predominantly blamed the widespread outbreak on “Jews, Samaritans, pagans, heretics, Arians, Montanists and homosexuals“.In modern times, social distancing measures have been successfully implemented in several epidemics. In St. Louis, shortly after the first cases of influenza were detected in the city during the 1918 flu pandemic, authorities implemented school closures, bans on public gatherings and other social-distancing interventions. The influenza fatality rates in St. Louis were much less than in Philadelphia, which had fewer cases of influenza but allowed a mass parade to continue and did not introduce social distancing until more than two weeks after its first cases. Authorities have encouraged or mandated social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social distancing measures are most effective when the infectious disease spreads via one or more of the following methods:

• droplet contact (coughing or sneezing)
• direct physical contact (including sexual contact)
• indirect physical contact (such as by touching a contaminated surface)
• airborne transmission (if the microorganism can survive in the air for long periods); the efficacy of social distancing to contain airborne viruses compared to other measures, such as widespread mask usage, is disputed

The measures are less effective when an infection is transmitted primarily via contaminated water or food or by vectors such as mosquitoes or other insect.

Drawbacks of social distancing can include loneliness, reduced productivity and the loss of other benefits associated with human interaction.

HISTORY

Leper colonies and lazarettos were established as a means of preventing the spread of leprosy and other contagious diseases through social distancing, until transmission was understood and effective treatments invented.

1916 New York City polio epidemic

During the 1916 New York City polio epidemic, when there were more than 27,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths due to polio in the United States, with more than 2,000 deaths in New York City alone, movie theatres were closed, meetings were cancelled, public gatherings were almost non-existent, and children were warned not to drink from water fountains, and told to avoid amusement parks, swimming pools and beaches.

Influenza, 1918 to present

During the influenza pandemic of 1918, Philadelphia saw its first cases of influenza on 17 September. The city continued with its planned parade and gathering of more than 200000 people on 28 September and over the subsequent three days, the city’s 31 hospitals became fully occupied. During the week ending 16 October, over 4500 people died. Social distancing measures were introduced on 3 October, on the orders of St. Louis physician Max C. Starkloff, more than two weeks after the first case. Unlike Philadelphia, St. Louis experienced its first cases of influenza on 5 October and the city took two days to implement several social distancing measures, including closing schools, theatres, and other places where people get together. It banned public gatherings, including funerals. The actions slowed the spread of influenza in St. Louis and a spike in cases and deaths, as had happened in Philadelphia, did not occur. The final death rate in St. Louis increased following a second wave of cases, but remained overall less than in other cities. Bootsma and Ferguson analyzed social distancing interventions in sixteen U.S. cities during the 1918 epidemic and found that time-limited interventions reduced total mortality only moderately (perhaps 10–30%), and that the impact was often very limited because the interventions were introduced too late and lifted too early. It was observed that several cities experienced a second epidemic peak after social distancing controls were lifted, because susceptible individuals who had been protected were now exposed.

 School closures were shown to reduce morbidity from the Asian flu by 90% during the 1957–1958 pandemic, and up to 50% in controlling influenza in the U.S., 2004–2008. Similarly, mandatory school closures and other social distancing measures were associated with a 29% to 37% reduction in influenza transmission rates during the 2009 flu epidemic in Mexico.

During the swine flu outbreak in 2009 in the UK, in an article titled “Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic” published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a group of epidemiologists endorsed the closure of schools to interrupt the course of the infection, slow the further spread and buy time to research and produce a vaccine. Having studied previous influenza pandemics including the 1918 flu pandemic, the influenza pandemic of 1957 and the 1968 flu pandemic, they reported on the economic and workforce effect school closure would have, particularly with a large percentage of doctors and nurses being women, of whom half had children under the age of 16. They also looked at the dynamics of the spread of influenza in France during French school holidays and noted that cases of flu dropped when schools closed and re-emerged when they re-opened. They noted that when teachers in Israel went on strike during the flu season of 1999–2000, visits to doctors and the number of respiratory infections dropped by more than a fifth and more than two fifths respectively.

SARS 2003

During the SARS outbreak of 2003, social distancing measures such as banning large gatherings, closing schools and theaters, and other public places, supplemented public health measures such as finding and isolating affected people, quarantining their close contacts, and infection control procedures. This was combined with wearing masks for certain people. During this time in Canada, “community quarantine” was used to reduce transmission of the disease with moderate success.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and related measures are emphasized by several governments as alternatives to an enforced quarantine of heavily affected areas. According to UNESCO monitoring, more than a hundred countries have implemented nationwide school closures in response to COVID-19, impacting over half the world’s student population. In the United Kingdom, the government advised the public to avoid public spaces, and cinemas and theatres voluntarily closed to encourage the government’s message.

With many people disbelieving that COVID-19 is any worse than the seasonal flu, it has been difficult to convince the public—especially teens and young adults—to voluntarily adopt social distancing practices. In Belgium, media reported a rave was attended by at least 300 before it was broken up by local authorities. In France teens making nonessential trips are fined up to US$150. Beaches were closed in Florida and Alabama to disperse partygoers during spring break. Weddings were broken up in New Jersey and an 8 p.m. Curfew was imposed in Newark. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania were the first states to adopt coordinated social distancing policies which closed down non-essential businesses and restricted large gatherings. Shelter in place orders in California were extended to the entire state on 19 March. On the same day Texas declared a public disaster and imposed state wide restrictions.

These preventive measures such as social-distancing and self-isolation prompted the widespread closure of primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools in more than 120 countries. As of 23 March 2020, more than 1.2 billion learners were out of school due to school closures in response to COVID-19. Given low rates of COVID-19 symptoms among children, the effectiveness of school closures has been called into question. Even when school closures are temporary, it carries high social and economic costs. However, the significance of children in spreading COVID-19 is unclear. While the full impact of school closures during the corona virus pandemic are not yet known, UNESCO advises that school closures have negative impacts on local economies and on learning outcomes for students.

In early March 2020, the sentiment “Stay The Fuck Home” was coined by Florian Reifschneider, a German engineer and was quickly echoed by notable celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Busy Philipps in hopes of reducing and delaying the peak of the outbreak. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram also joined the campaign with similar hashtags, stickers and filters under #staythefhome, #stayhome began trending across social media. The website claims to have reached about two million people online and says the text has been translated into 17 languages.

 Drawbacks

There are concerns that social distancing can have adverse affects on participants’ mental health. It may lead to stress, anxiety, depression or panic, especially for individuals with pre existing conditions such as anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, and paranoia. Widespread media coverage about a pandemic, its impact on economy, and resulting hardships may create anxiety. Change in daily circumstances and uncertainty about the future may add onto the mental stress of being away from other people.

Effectivenes

An empirical study published in July 2020 in the The BMJ (British Medical Journal) analyzed data from 149 countries, and reported an average of 13% reduction in COVID-19 incidence after the implementation of social distancing policies.

We all have someone in our life, the one we look up to and and the one we admire the most. The people who inspires us, who gives us strength to overcome all the challenges and the ones who give our life a new meaning and a new and a brighter path. This inspiration can be anyone- a person, an object, any non-living thing and it can even be an animal. Some people have found their inspiration and some are still in search of that particular thing which will give them a new prospective. Luckily I am one of those who have found their inspiration. This is a story of me narrating my first and the last meeting with my inspiration.

This incident took place 7 months ago when Covid-19 was not a big deal and just like my daily routine I was returning home from my college. That day I was quite dejected and and downhearted because my marks of the internal assessment were given and I’d scored very low marks in one subject. I’d prepared for that particular subject wholeheartedly, but still end up getting low grades.I was heading towards the bus stop, my mind full of hundreds of thoughts about my bad grades(as my college is very far from my home and I was compelled to use the public transport), suddenly a voice from behind broke my chain of thoughts. I turn around and saw a little boy, holding lots of balloons in his hands and staring at me with a heart melting smile. He came running towards me and told me whether I am interested in buying a balloon? I never liked balloons
(I am scared of them), but there was something in his smile that I ended up buying it. I gave him money(a little extra than the actual cost of the balloons) and told him that because of the rush in the public transport I would not be able to take the balloons with me, so he can keep them with him. He immediately declined me and said, ” No didi(elder sister) I cannot keep this money, if you won’t take this balloon. I want to earn money by doing some work, by selling some balloons and not like this.” I was stunned by his reply and finally agree to take the balloons. But now I was very inquisitive about this little boy so I asked him whether he will accompany me to the nearby Ice-cream shop. Initially he was hesitating but after insisting him he said okay. We went to the shop and I ordered ice-cream for both of us, meanwhile I asked him about his family and asked him why is he working at such a young age age. He told me his father died when he was 2, and his mother works as a maid. Since the income was not enough he decided to do some work after his school hours, so he started selling balloons. He said I don’t want to beg anybody for money or food, instead I will Earn them by doing work. After finishing the Ice-cream he picked his remaining balloons and say now he got to go as he wants to sell more balloons. I wished him good luck and asked him to meet me outside the shop, the next day, at the day time. He agreed and ran away.

During my whole journey I kept thinking about him, about how brave and determined he was about his goals. I suddenly felt how stupid was I to get sad about my bad grades, when my problems were nothing his front of his. The boy’s problems were giant and still he was so happy and dedicated towards solving them. A small boy, not even half of my age, unintentionally became my inspiration that day. Unfortunately he never showed up after that day, yet I feel and hope someday I will surely meet him again, again I would be able to witness that brightness on his face has his unforgettable smile.

 What is Black Money

Black money is funds earned illegally on which income and other taxes have not been paid. The unaccounted money hoarded illegally and concealed from the tax authorities is also called black money. So, it is essential that one does not keep any unaccounted or undeclared money, jewellery or any kind of wealth. In the event of such non-declaration, the chances of the income tax authorities conducting a raid on the taxpayer will be quite high. Therefore, the taxpayer also needs to safeguard himself while possessing someone else’s money ensuring that those are accounted for.

When does a raid happen?

An income tax raid, technically known as the process of Search and Seizure, is one of the crucial weapons that the Income-tax department possesses to check black money. It is a measure that is known to be constitutionally valid too. A raid gets triggered under any of the following circumstances:

• Credible information of tax evasion; for instance, any evasion coming out of reports received from the Intelligence Wing of the Income tax department.
• Information coming from government departments.
• Information procured from assessment records of taxpayers.
• Information received with regard to spending being disproportionate to income of the taxpayer i.e. an instance of lavish spending without corresponding income to match the same.
• Manipulation of books of accounts, vouchers, invoices etc.
• Illegal investment in real estate.
• Unexplained cash credits, share transactions etc.

Who can conduct a raid?

According to Section 132(1) of the Income Tax Act, the :

• Principal Director General or Director-General or
• Principal Director or Director or
• Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or
• Principal Commissioner or Commissioner

They can authorize:-

• Additional Director or
• Additional Commissioner or
• Joint Director or
• Joint Commissioner or
• Assistant Director or
• Deputy Director or
• Assistant Commissioner or
• Deputy Commissioner  or
• Income-tax Officer to conduct a tax raid. The authorizing officer will do so, if he has a “reason to believe” that :

• A taxpayer has failed to comply with any summons or notices sent to him by the Department or
• He has in his possession money and secondly, such money represents either wholly or partly income or property which has not been disclosed.

It has been held by various courts that the taxpayer being searched ideally does not have the right to get access to information based on which the search has been initiated by the department considering that this would hamper the department’s investigation process. Only High Courts and the Supreme Court have the right to do so.

Powers of tax authorities during a raid

The officer authorized to carry out the raid can:

1. Enter and search any building, place, etc. where he has a reason to suspect that the books of account, other documents, money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article or thing representing undisclosed income is kept.
2. Break open the locks, where the keys are unavailable.
3. Carry out personal search of a person who is suspected to have secreted some item as mentioned in (1) above.
4. Seize the items as mentioned in (1) above.
5. Place marks of identification and take extracts or copies of the books of account and other documents.
6. Make a note or inventory of the valuables found during the search.

Assets that can be seized.

The authorized officials can seize the following types of assets:

1. Undeclared cash, jewellery
2. Books of accounts, challan, diaries, etc.
3. Computer chips and other data storage devices
4. Documents relating to property, deed of conveyances, etc.

Assets that cannot be seized

The authorized officials cannot seize the following types of assets:

1. Stock-in-trade (except cash) of a business
2. Assets or cash which are disclosed before the Income Tax and Wealth Tax Department
3. Assets declared in books of account
4. Cash which are duly explained
5. Jewellery provided in wealth tax return
6. Gold up to 500 gm for each married lady and 250 gm for each unmarried woman and 100gm per male member

 Rights of a person during a tax raid

• To insist on personal search of ladies being taken only by a lady, with strict regard to decency
• To have at least two respectable and independent residents of the locality as witnesses
• A lady occupying an apartment being searched has a right to withdraw before the search party enters, if, according to custom, she does not appear in public
• To call a medical practitioner in case of emergency
• To allow the children to go to school, after checking their bags
• To have the facility of having meals, etc. at the normal time
• To inspect the seals placed on various receptacles, sealed in course of search and subsequently at the time of reopening of the seals
• To have a copy of the panchanama together with all the annexure
• To have a copy of any statement that is used against him by the Department
• To have inspection of the seized books of account, etc., or to take extracts there from in the presence of any of the authorised officers or any other person empowered by him.

 Rights of a person after a tax raid

The person from whose custody any books of account or other documents are seized may make copies thereof or take extracts there from in the presence of any of the authorized officers or any other person empowered by him.

An aggrieved person can file a writ petition before the High Court challenging the raid, if he feels that the action of the department was unfair. He can also challenge the assessment and file an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal).

 Duties of a person during a raid

i. To allow free and unhindered ingress into the premises 

ii. To identify all receptacles in which assets or books of account and documents are kept and to hand over keys to such receptacles to the authorised officer 

iii. To identify and explain the ownership of the assets, books of account and documents found in the premises 

iv. To identify every individual in the premises and to explain their relationship to the person being searched. He should not mislead by impersonation. If he cheats by pretending to be some other person or knowingly substitutes one person for another, it is an offence punishable under section 416 of the Indian Penal Code.

v. Not to allow or encourage the entry of any unauthorised person into the premises.

vi. Not to remove any article from its place without notice or knowledge of the authorised officer. If he destroys any document with the intention of preventing the same from being produced or used as evidence before the court or public servant, he shall be punishable with imprisonment or fine or both, in accordance with section 204 of the Indian Penal Code.

vii. To answer all queries truthfully and to the best of his knowledge. He should not allow any third party to either interfere or prompt, while his statement is being recorded by the authorised officer.

viii. Being legally bound by an oath or affirmation to state the truth. If he makes a false statement, he shall be punishable with imprisonment or fine or both under section 181 of the Indian Penal Code.

ix. Similarly, if he provides evidence which is false and which he knows or believes to be false, he is liable to be punished under section 191 of the Indian Penal Code.

x. To affix his signature on the recorded statement, inventories and the panchanama.

xi. To ensure that peace is maintained throughout the search process, and to cooperate with the search party in all respects so that the search action is concluded at the earliest and in a peaceful manner.

xii. Similar co-operation should be extended even after the search action is over, so as to enable the authorised officer to complete necessary follow-up investigations at the earliest.

How can one prevent raid?

One can lawfully avoid a tax raid by being compliant in terms of responding to summons and notices sent to him by the department and also refrain from keeping money, property undeclared.