THE EVOLVING POLITICS OF CESS

I N moments of national anxiety, language hardens.

- THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN

Words like security, emergency, and national interest acquire a near-sacred aura, demanding assent rather than scrutiny. India has witnessed this transformation before. We are seeing it again in the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025-a legislation that asks parliament to accept a new fiscal instrument in the name of collective safety, while quietly reordering the relationship between the Union, the states, and citizens who bear the cost.

At first glance, the Bill announces an unimpeachable aim: mobilising resources for health preparedness and national security. Who could dispute the importance of either?

The title itself offers a clue. Why does an English statute use the word 'se'? It is neither legally necessary nor linguistically neutral. Laws are not advertisements; they are contracts between the State and the people. When legislative titles begin sounding like slogans, something deeper is at work. This is governance by signalling, where persuasive tone takes precedence over constitutional clarity.

At its heart, this legislation introduces yet another cess. This time in the name of health preparedness and national security. India is no stranger to such levies. Jawaharlal Nehru had warned parliament decades ago: "Taxation must never become a substitute for planning." Yet today, the Union increasingly relies on cesses that accumulate revenue without a clear, democratic plan for its use. What unites them is not their intent, but design: cesses sit outside the divisible pool, beyond the guarantees of revenue sharing with the states.