VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 181 Date: 26.12.2016
Contents:
1. The Bumbling Jaitley as Finance Minister
Exposed in the Demonetisation Exercise
2. Modi Has Brought The Country To Its Knees With Demonetisation
3. Dumb & Dumber: The Mediocre Shall Rule The
World
4. Demonetisation Woes Continue To Add Up But No
Compassionate Action by the Government
5. Political Parties Let Off The Hook
6. In Politicians Deal Making, Interests of
Citizens Are Sacrificed
The Bumbling Jaitley as Finance Minister
Exposed in the Demonetisation Exercise
Where in the world would you see a Finance Minister being kept
away from a major economic policy decision like demonetisation of high
denomination currency notes? It does happen and in India. In fact on Nov 8th,
2016 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew the Rs. 500 and the Rs. 1000 as
legal tender Arun Jaitley his Finance Minister was not aware of this until Modi
had called a meeting of the Cabinet moments before he went on national
television to announce it to the nation. Was it because as per media reports it
was Jaitley who had exchanged cash amounting to some Rs. 68 lakhs of the
demonetised notes, the highest among all Cabinet Ministers, just after Nov 8th?
Was Modi aware of Jaitley's stash from earlier and that is why he was kept
away?
Arun Jaitley took this slight in his stride and putting on a brave
face continued to do his master's bidding in defending the demonetisation
exercise. When there was crowding at banks by the public to exchange their
useless currency, he exhorted the people that there was time until Dec 30 to do
this and not panic. With the tsunami of the old notes being deposited in the
banks in the first few weeks, Jaitley went along with the Finance Ministry
officials and underestimated the amount of the old currency that would come
back to RBI. Immediately word was put out that the demonetisation
exercise was a success and since the RBI would not have to meet the liability
of anywhere between one lakh crore to three lakh crore of rupees which was
assumed to be black money which the hoarders were afraid to deposit in the
banks, this money could be given as dividend to the government by RBI. The
government would then use this dividend money
for the benefit of the poor. But with more and more money coming into the banks
and almost the entire amount likely to come in by Dec 30, this equation is not
working out since the more demonetised notes coming into the banks,
the less is the kitty for 'spending for the poor'. If this happens then there
is a major credibility debacle for the government which they are keen to
avoid.
So what does Jaitley do but resort to kite
flying? He floats the idea that there 'seems' to be some double counting in the
process of the demonetised notes as they move from banks, post offices to
regional currency chests. He also asks RBI to check this out. In the
meanwhile under RTI the RBI releases information that on the day Nov 8th
that demonetisation of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes were announced there
was almost 30% more of these notes in circulation than the government figures
that it has been releasing up to now. Is this deliberate? To show that there
are still a large number of notes yet to come back and therefore
the government would have a large amount of funds for spending on the poor
or putting it another way that the demonetization exercise has been a
success to invalidate black money. Whatever may be the truth, in all this
the RBI's credibility has taken a further beating coming on top of the
plethora of circulars on procedures that it has been issuing
post-demonetisation.
Is this therefore a planned attack by government
to discredit yet another autonomous institution, the RBI? Jaitley
should answer for this since this government is already at loggerheads
with the Supreme Court on judge's appointments and it seems RBI is the
next target.
RBI also played party pooper when it
appropriated the huge amount of deposits coming to the
banks post-demonetisation. The banks were salivating that these deposits
would decorate their balance sheets which were mostly in the red because of the
massive NPA's on their books. In the same manner Jaitley has been eyeing
the same huge deposits coming to the banks and contrary to his saying that all
cash being put in the banks in the form of the demonetised
notes cannot convert it into white, he is believing hat all the deposits
are black. With that he has been building castles in the air on how much tax
revenue will come to the government on these deposits and how with that
buoyancy he will be able to take a position to review taxation downwards for
the common people. First things first, in India whether it be taxation or
prices, once they go up, they never come down as our experience has shown for the
last 60 years or more. Not only that just like the amount of money coming into
the banks post-demonetisation was underestimated so also to Jaitley's
amazement he will find that all this money or at least a majority of it is all
white and tax-paid money. Thus the expectation of ballooning tax revenue will
go out of the window. In all this it is the story of taking one step
forward and then taking two steps backward, nett result being that we would be
worse off than what we were pre-demonetisation. This is being said
since demonetisation instead of hitting black money substantially actually
helped the black money hoarders to be more comfortable. Corruption has not been
affected since it continues as it is in the past but with new currency.
Terrorism has not been curbed since in Kashmir terrorists were found with new
currency and last week's attack in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra where 80 trucks were
torched shows that the red menace continues unabated. This in fact is one of
the largest attacks on property in the last few years to maybe signal to
the government that the Naxalites are alive and kicking and not
to get complacent.
Jaitley true to form picked up the PM's baton
again to defend the change in tack of the objectives of the demonetisation
exercise from the above since it obviously as spelt out were not working
to announcing the cashless or 'less cash' economy. This change of
approach was also a knee-jerk decision since as it is there was no cash
available, so might as well sell the idea of a cashless or 'less cash'
economy! This as a concept is good but to implement it will take at least a
decade or more considering educating the people on it and getting their
acceptance, ensuring coverage of Net and mobile networks across the country and
to scale up the support systems for such payment methods to handle large volume
of transactions in a reliable and robust manner. Paytm the favourite Co. of
Narendra Modi has had two scams in the space of two weeks of people cheating
them. Even POS terminals have had problems with some of them masquerading as
skimmers where card data is siphoned off for malpractices later.
Considering this is the government thinking of certifying POS terminals so
that people can ask to be shown this certification before giving their cards for
payment. India has always been a large buyer in any item and this situation has
affected POS terminals given the large demand of 1 million units in the next 3
months, for which the suppliers have already run into a shortage supply
situation. This will jeopardise the plan of banks to dsperse these terminals as
widely as possible across the country. In the same context, how people
like Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog can sing the praises of a cashless
economy is something which is not understandable? Announcing the incentives to
people and trade for going cashless to an estimated budget of Rs. 320 crores is
a waste since you give incentives when there is a reasonable volume and to
scale up this volume. In the present context when you are starting from scratch
what will the incentives achieve but loss to the exchequer. This money could
have been better spent on other things. Kant is also guilty of massaging data
to support his arguments. Like claiming that only 1% of
Indians pay income tax is far from the truth. With farmers and their families
exempt from income tax and constituting at least 70% of the population, we are
already at the figure of close to 3.5% Indians paying income tax. Layer
on this the young, elderly and women among which population only 25% are
eligible to pay tax. Therefore if you consider from among
those Indians who have to pay income tax 14% do so. So Mr Kant, you
are way off and simply using figures to justify your argument. No doubt there
is a large number of Indians who though liable to income tax are not
paying it and the government needs to go after
them. But that is not done by torturing the whole nation to go
after maybe some 10% of the population liable to tax. The problem with Modi and
his henchmen is that they get so much taken in by the task to the exclusion of
the risks and after-effects as also the impact on the people likely to get
affected by the decisions. Another thing that Kant mentioned is that in future
if you are paying in cash, it will attract a surcharge. We have grown up
to the idea that payment in cash should be eligible for discounts, now that
belief is likely to be turned on its head.
Jaitley is also not applying himself to
maintaining a certain standard of performance in relation to matters related to
his ministry. Take the case of the quality of currency that has been newly
introduced. It has been reported that the colour has been coming off
the Rs. 2000 note which has been put at the door of the intaglio ink used
in its printing. In just about 45 days the Rs. 2000 note has been showing
in some cases the signs of wear and tear. These are things that we are not
used to in our currency but we are learning anew under Modi's dispensation where
everything is negotiable and everything can be explained by some pithy and
inane comment. The Rs. 500 note seen rarely is reported to be different
from one other in the shade of colour and on some of its features. Thus if
you see we are given legal tender which may be varying leading to debate and
nuisance when it is tendered for payment. Not only that this is the window of
opportunity that counterfeiters will use to make fake notes and pass them off
as genuine taking advantage of the above confusion. The Rs. 2000 note has
already been photocopied and passed of as genuine in many places across the
country. So we are living in a country where the currency itself may be
suspect. But levity apart should not the government have ensured that all
such problems with the new currency were resolved before putting them in
circulation, after all the country’s reputation was at stake. A country’s currency
just like its flag should be beyond question and the government of the day
should ensure that it makes every effort in this regard.
Lastly the BJP and the RSS have been known for
the many motor-mouths in their midst who shoot off once too often. Recently S
Gurumoorthy, the go-to man in the RSS think-tank hierarchy spilt the beans that
the Rs. 2000 note may be there for a short while and then would be
withdrawn! Is this not enough signal to the black money hoarders to avoid
keeping their caches in this denomination. Thus while Narendra Modi implemented
demonetisation by closing the doors of the stable after the horses had bolted,
we have Gurumoorthy nudging the doors open a little so that preparatory
action is initiated.
You latch onto Jaitley for apportioning blame on
all this is because he is an educated person and an eminent advocate to boot
who instead of performing his role in line with his abilities and competence is
content to play second fiddle to short-sighted people and some who are
downright illiterate. Thus one's blood boils when you see Jaitley mouthing
inanities and making irresponsible statements.
Modi Has Brought The Country To Its Knees With
Demonetisation
The Indian economy after the ‘policy paralysis’ of the
previous UPA government was in the doldrums. It was recovering slowly even
after the indifferent management since the BJP-led Narendra
Modi government assumed power in 2014. On the back of two successive
droughts, the monsoon had been close to normal this year across the country and
augured well for growth when like a bolt out of the blue, a sudden shock
was imposed upon the country by Narendra Modi by way of the
mismanagement of the demonetisation of high denomination currency. It was
as if a currency drought has been unleashed across the country whose impact
will be much greater than any drought imposed on the economy by the failure of
the monsoon. This has resulted in the future of the Indian
economy becoming uncertain. Opinion is divided whether there are economic
gains or losses from the demonetisation and only time will give the answer
to that. In terms of Narendra Modi's action
on demonetisation, any right thinking person will ask him - What was
the hurry? By his own admission if black money hoarders had made merry in the
country for the last 70 years, could Modi not have allowed the country the comfort
of the economy to recover and when it was more on its feet, launch the war
against black money? Would another year or even a few months, until more of the
replacement currency was available, was something which would have been
difficult to wait for? Since whether now or after a little more time, things as
far as the status of black money would not have changed much. In the hurry
to fight black money Narendra Modi has only ended up in putting the whole
country into a mess particularly the poor and underprivileged who are not very
sure of the benefits of the measure that is presently snatching away food from their mouths
because of the cash shortage.
It is a strange situation where your own money is being
restricted from being withdrawn from the banks and the government in its
infinite wisdom is imposing limits to how much you can draw or cannot draw and
for which all purposes it will allow drawal. These are surely not signs of a
democracy but that of a controlled economy. Epithets like dictatorship or
autocratic restrictions or like what happens in communist countries come to
one’s mind. These restrictions are for common people who are either individuals
or small tradesmen. For the black money hoarders and people with money, there
do not seem to be any restrictions since in raids across the country massive
amounts of new currency mostly the Rs. 2000 note is being recovered. How is the
new Rs. 2000 note available to hoarders in such large volume when the
government stand is that it is trying to do its best to meet the needs of the
people at bank counters? While the actual situation is that while common people
are starved of cash the hoarders and well-heeled people are making merry. Is
there a leak in the banking system? If so the bank bosses would have at least
known who among their staff are prone to malpractice and should they have not
isolated them from the currency handling? Or like some are saying is there a
direct leak from the RBI considering quite a number of their staffers have been
found complicit in siphoning out money at Bangalore? In all this the question
uppermost in people’s minds is how is all this money being accounted, if at all
it is being accounted? At the same time bank bosses are complaining that with
bank operations under larger scrutiny and the new RBI advice that CCTV coverage
from 8th Nov needs to be preserved, the morale of banking personnel
who have been working hard since the demonetization has been going down. These
are but excuses to get the banking system off the hook and away from scrutiny
since as said earlier bank bosses should have known who were the bad potatoes
among them and these people should have been moved out of direct cash
operations and customer handling post-8th Nov. That would have been
responsible working by top management in the banks rather than talk now of rotation
of personnel at the counters so that no linkages with disreputable persons are
maintained. At Axis Bank where the largest number of scams have been detected
the top executive has been trying to explain away the situation and instituting
audits by independent consultants and saying a few people had brought a bad
name to some 50,000 employees at the bank. These are but public relations to
deflect attention while actually she should resign owning up responsibility.
The government is indulging in using mass media
to project the black money unearthed during raids at the present times to
support its stated war against black money and to show that it is working.
Actually the money unearthed during raids is miniscule compared to the
projections of the black money in the Indian economy which is conservatively
pegged at 25% of GDP. This attempt to give publicity to raids is to sway the
minds of the gullible public by showing how many ‘crores’ are being unearthed
when actually any serious efforts to eliminate black money should show the
discovery and elimination in thousands of ‘crores’. The present publicity is obviously
to deflect the criticism that Narendra Modi is facing that his demonetisation
exercise and its sloppy implementation actually helped black money hoarders to
store their ill-gotten money more easily. The people should therefore take such
news with a pinch of salt since these are all recoveries from the small fry
while the big fish with the real black money are sleeping the sleep of the
comfortable. The media has a role to play in this and should down-play the
amounts seized during such raids. In fact through this entire demonetisation measure the media has
played an emasculated position blowing hot and cold and asking irrelevant
questions about the merits of demonetization
of which there is no doubt but the manner of implementation of the replacement
of the demonetized is what was messed up helping the black money hoarders
indirectly.
In its anxiety to shore up the demonetisation
measure and to cover up
the fact of the deliberately created cash shortage in the economy the
government has launched also into a multimedia promotional campaign on
unrelated and far-fetched options like going cashless. These options need a
soft launch considering the appreciation and understanding of the processes by
the people who are not device-friendly and the gradual upgradation of the
back-up and support systems to be robust enough to put through the increasing
level of transactions with the rising acceptance of the people. However, the
manner in which the cashless economy is being pushed through it may only end up
like many of the irrelevant schemes of government, die an unsung death. But in
the process of doing so it will hurt a lot of common people with the cost of
glitches, errors and incorrect transactions. In this context all the money
being spent by government on these programs may end up being wasted.
The RBI and the Finance Ministry officials like
Shaktikanta Das have been trying to explain the quantum of notes, both by
number and value, that the government has put out. But the logic of the Rs.
2000 note being stored by all people, including households and trade, is
escaping them. The first thing it does not buy anything of daily necessity
since no change is available and keeping it is a good hedge against any other
surprise that Modi will spring upon them. With Rs. 100 notes in short supply
and the new Rs. 500 hardly ever seen is precisely the reason why the cash shortage
is persisting. Thus unless the Rs. 500 note is not released in large volume the
people’s woes will not reduce. From the beginning the understanding of these
simple common-sense principles has been escaping those who are in the
driving-seat of the demonetization exercise. And that is precisely why the
population at large has been put to untold inconvenience and misery with even
deaths happening in queues at banks where people have collected to withdraw
cash. People like Shaktikanta Das and those from the RBI who have been mouthing
numbers of notes put back in the circulation should know that these numbers
have no relevance since if people’s woes across the country are to be
alleviated then dispersion of the notes is the major issue on which these
people should have concentrated. On Nov 8th Narendra Modi asked for
50 days until Dec 30th which is almost upon us. Then Arun Jaitley
said it could take longer about 6 months from Nov 8th given the
capacity of the currency printing presses. Then we have contradictory voices
coming out of government saying that things will ‘start’ improving after Dec 30th
and things will become ‘normal’ latest by end March if not end Feb 2017 and at
the same time saying that the number of notes put back into circulation may not
be as much as was taken out on Nov 8th to make way for a ‘less-cash’
economy. This is only adding to the uncertainty in people’s minds and
confirming the fact that the government probably does not know what it is
doing.
When the government is indulging in publicity by way of mass media
there must be someone in government who keeps track of media to judge the
sentiments of the people post-demonetisation. In fact Modi himself should be keen
to watch some TV news on channels that he likes to see. Does he miss the
stories of people dying in queues in front of banks & ATM’s? Does he not
look at the aged woman in Haryana who says that since she does not have cash,
she cannot buy her medicines? Does he ignore the picture of an serviceman
crying helplessly after missing his place in a queue for drawing cash? Does he
think that these are fabricated stories with not an iota of truth in them? If
so one must say that he has a steely heart in his 56” chest. To ignore the
voice of his people and seek sacrifices to the extent of death from his
countrymen, does not give Modi any label of being a humane leader. In fact by
ignoring people’s woes post- demonetization, he is only confirming that he does
not know what he is doing. Modi’s lack of education is hobbling his ability to
look properly at the perspective of things. As a consequence he is operating
far out of his depth in the present situation. Where an educated and
knowledgeable person will hesitate with demonetization given its ramifications
on the entire country and its economy, Modi went ahead with bravado commonly
attributed to the ignorant and the muddle-headed on the measure, thinking that
he would manage problems and difficulties as they came up and tackle them - Dekha Jayega. Jo Bhi Hoga Dekh Lenge! This has been disastrous for the country. The deaths in the bank queues and as a
consequence of demonetization are on his head.
These are exactly the reasons why the heads of
those involved in the demonetization issue should roll starting from Narendra
Modi, Urjit Patel, Shaktikanta Das, Hasmukh Adhia and those ‘wet behind the
ears’ young bunch of officials who work on Modi’s social media promotion and
who are understood to have also been involved in the demonetization exercise.
The emphasis being placed on the IT and other
enforcement authorities is confirming the establishment of a ‘raid-raj’ being
in place in the country. Initially it was the assessment of taxes for those who
have deposited more than Rs. 2.5 Lakhs post 8th Nov into their bank
accounts. Here the focus was on those suspected to be hoarding black money.
Then came the RBI strictures on tracking work of banking personnel some of whom
were seen to be complicit with the movement of large amounts of new currency to
businessmen and others who were believed to be black money hoarders. Thus it as
if the lens of being involved with black money is on each and every citizen.
Even common people who go through their daily humdrum lives have in excess of
Rs. 2 Lakhs in their accounts post-8th Nov will have to answer to
the IT authorities is what is stated! Thus even if your own FD of Rs. 2 Lakhs
has matured and you have put in your account after 8th Nov, your
status has suddenly changed and – You Are Guilty Until Proven Innocent. This is
putting the justice system on its head in present day India since the accepted
norm earlier was – You Are Innocent Until Proven Guilty. This is what the
country has been brought down to. Not only that the officials with the
increased emphasis on raids will be in ‘raid’ mode at the cost of their normal
work which like for IT officials would be assessment. Thus an unnecessary fear
psychosis is being created almost equivalent to a pogrom like what the Nazis
did to the Jews, Modi is looking at every Indian as a black money holder. A
very sad state of affairs indeed. This is a typical example wherein a leader
gets trust from the people but he does not have the moral character to
reciprocate and have trust in his own people. Everybody is a thief is Modi’s
present motto. This is not the end there is more.
The government has announced an email id where
you can report tip offs on those who have black money. Thus we have a leader
who is deliberately pitting one citizen against another. Where leaders should
encourage people living together in peace and good neighbourliness, what is
called bhai-chara, we have Modi wanting to split the fabric of our
society by encouraging strife. Thus where people have an axe to grind against
someone be it on reasons of jealousy, personal enmity, business disputes etc.
the easiest way to put the opposite party in trouble is to report that he has
black money. That will be the end of that fellow. Not only that such fake
allegations will multiply the work of the law enforcement officials manifold to
add to the already increased work-load and by the time the authorities are able
to sift through the complaints, the real black money holders would have escaped
for good. These are not good signs and speak of an immature and unreasonable
outlook. What else can you expect from the BJP being a communal party in the
first place and now out to polarize Indian society still further?
Concluding on a tone of levity maybe the
concept behind the launching of the Rs. 2000 note apart from making it easier
for black money hoarders and corrupt people to store their ill-gotten money
also seems to be a signal that inflation will be on the rise in the years to
come and will bubble up to make this note more relevant than it is today what
with GST coming into force and oil prices already on the rise.
Dumb & Dumber: The Mediocre Shall Rule The
World
Consistent with the old saying that – The
Mediocre Shall Rule The World – we have the dumbing down of the world happening
around us. First it was the US with Donald Trump being elected President and
then we have Narendra Modi making a hash of the first important economic policy
initiative that he undertook namely demonetization. It is being said that it
was better when he was traipsing around the world in the first two years of
taking over since the moment he lately stayed for a longish period in the
country he stirred things up to cause untold misery to millions of Indians and
put brakes on the world’s ‘fastest’ growing economy. Not only that when
Narendra Modi realized in the first few days post-Nov 8th when he
had announced the demonetization that things were not going right, he changed
tack. From the earlier announced objectives of the demonetization being the
fight against black money, corruption, counterfeiting and terrorism funding, he
now announced that cashless economy was the new objective to counteract the
criticism around the country of the unending cash shortage even after 45 days
of Nov 8th. This was akin to
taking a child to look at the spectacle of a comet in the night sky and having
missed it, trying to make do with showing it the stars in the Milky Way and
claiming that the spread of the stars in that swathe of the sky was actually a
comet. Whom are you fooling, Mr Modi? In his anxiety to justify demonetization
as the launch of a cashless economy, Modi has got the government and the
banking system thrashing around to make it work by announcing a basket of
incentives for people and trade to go cashless and in the manner of offering
chocolates to a child having lotteries to reward those that fall in line with
cashless operation.
Then in the BJP party we have one or the other
tripping on each other’s heels in praising Narendra Modi to the skies. In this
day and age when qualified people tend to do this, it is rather incongruous and
disappointing. We have lately Ravi Shankar Prasad, an eminent lawyer and now
minister, while rebutting Rahul Gandhi’s charge of corruption against Narendra
Modi claim that - Modi is as pure as the Ganga. Then we have another Minister M
A Naqvi putting in his penny’s worth by saying Modi is a ‘saint’ working
relentlessly to uplift the poor. Minister Venkaiah Naidu on his part has always
been His Master’s Voice and at the drop of a hat will eulogise Narendra Modi. The
BJP functionaries need to be careful in giving ‘phoonk’ to their beloved
Narendra Modi since firstly he thinks no end of himself and with all this
praise he may end up in space as India’s new satellite without even ISRO making
any effort to launch him. In the context of the above comments, one can argue
whether Prasad was indulging in doublespeak since as we know today the Ganga is
not as pure as it was because of pollution. Is Modi’s status being equated to
the present day Ganga then it stinks? As far as Naqvi calling Modi a ‘saint’
working relentlessly to uplift the poor, we all know that demonetization has hit
the poor the hardest and when they were waiting for the ‘acche din’ promised by
Modi, he has snatched the ‘rozi roti’ at the present times from their mouths
with the promise that in the future he will feed them ‘mewa’. We have others
like reputed economists like Jagadish Bhagawati and his protégé Arvind
Panagariya putting their reputation on the line by defending the indefensible,
that is the mess caused by demonetization by claiming that the future will be
better. But these people fail to realize that there will be many people who
will not be there to see that rosy future like those who died in the bank
queues to exchange/withdraw their money
and on issues related to demonetization with doctors/hospitals/pharmacies not
accepting the demonetized notes in the initial days after Nov 8th,
those whose businesses have failed because of the cash shortage, those farmers
who watched their harvest rot or wither in the fields because there was no
money with their buyers to purchase the crop etc. etc. The list is long and
need not be recounted here. Who will answer to their families and compensate
them? Will Narendra Modi and his government do that? That RBI has been dumbing
down is evidenced from the fact of its 60 circulars issued since Nov 8th
on the demonetization issue and its modifying these circulars time and again
and also going to the extent of reversing some of them.
The dumbing down has also spread to the
Congress party and Rahul Gandhi who again raised the issue of Narendra Modi’s
corruption in a puerile manner and without any realistic evidence. And in this
process by meeting Modi alone on the last day of the recent session of
Parliament blew the Opposition unity that had been forged on the demonetization
issue. Here was an issue that was affecting all the people in India and on
which the Opposition after a long time had come together and on which the
Congress was also seen taking the lead and by talking about corruption, a valid
but unrelated issue, Rahul Gandhi lost the opportunity to corner the incumbent
government.
So the moral of the story as we go into the
future in India and the world is that you should be dumb, if not be dumb and
dumber, or at the least play dumb, if you want to move ahead in life.
Demonetisation Woes Continue To Add Up But No
Compassionate Action by the Government
The early supporters of demonetisation like
Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP, a constituent of the NDA, and Sharad Pawar
of the NCP have turned critics after becoming aware of the woes that common
people are facing in the wake of the prevailing cash shortage which has
also hit farmers, trade and small-scale industry. The impact of all this
is bringing the economy to a shuddering halt. However, Narendra Modi and
his government continues to be in denial of this ground reality and continues
to push forward calling the Opposition supporters of corruption in Modi's
latest salvo. This is a completely irresponsible and insensitive state of
affairs for this country. Even Venezuela, a country qualifying for the
epithet of a banana republic after the late President Chavez having run
it to the ground, an oil exporting country with the 3rd largest known
oil reserves in the world, after demonetising the 100 Bolivar note restored its
use until Jan 2. This was done because the new currency to replace
the 100 Bolivar note was not available and because of the resultant cash
shortage peoples Christmas shopping for a predominantly Christian population
was affected and riots had broken out in some parts of the country. Thus when a
country like Venezuela can be responsive to peoples needs why is India not
doing it? What is Narendra Modi waiting for? For riots to break out all over
the country though there have been sporadic reports of banks being looted and
vandalised with people venting anger on the cash shortage.
The demonetisation measure once launched and the way it was implemented
could not have been revoked but then people support measures could have been
introduced like free food in cities where daily wage labour has been hit and in
villages where farmers have got affected because of their inability to sell
their produce because of lack of cash in the market. Alternately the government
could have provided free rations for a month or two to alleviate the
difficulties of common people who have been the hardest hit. Instead of that
the government is playing the tomtoms of the merits of the cashless economy and
giving concessions and freebies to those using cashless transactions. Whom
does all this help but the urban middle class and the yuppie
crowd? Further, it is also clear that Narendra Modi and his
government is subscribing to the saying that its right hand does not know what
its left hand is doing. While the government and its ministers have been
exhorting people not to crowd the banks to exchange the demonetised
currency since there is time until Dec 30th. The latest circular of the RBI
states that people will be questioned when they come now to exchange
the demonetised currency as to why they had not done it earlier. Therefore
it is time again for like minded
political parties to get together and put up a unified front against the BJP
and its people harassing policies.
Political Parties Let Off The Hook
We have a mention in passing and in small print
presumably to hide it from the general public that political parties depositing
the demonetised notes of Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 into their bank a/c’s are
exempt from income tax. This is completely irresponsible action by the
government since though it is known that political parties are exempt from IT
for their earnings from property etc. and from the contributions that they
receive, but currently there are special circumstances in the context of the
demonetization. The rules that are applicable to the common man, trade
establishments, small businesses and corporate entities in terms of the quantum
of demonetised notes that they can deposit and related taxation should also be
applicable to political parties. They should be also liable to income tax on
the amounts and penalty if applicable on these amounts. There should be no
differential treatment in this regard. In the light of the exemption from
taxation, the political parties and their members will take advantage of the
situation and deposit their demonetised notes into the party accounts with an
understanding of a refund later. With party accounts not being submitted to the
Election Commission for years and no audit, there will be no way for anyone to
track such deposits and later refunds. We all also know that political parties
are not averse to earning a quick buck akin to commission agents promising to
convert the demonetised notes to add to their coffers. Thus the political party
becomes a conduit in converting black money not only of their own but also that
of its members. This clearly implies that there was no intention of Narendra
Modi to eliminate black money in the first place since at the front end by
keeping the conditions of exchange of demonetised notes lax and thus
encouraging ‘currency mules’ many black money hoarders converted their holdings
to the new notes. And now at the fag end of the time limit, the government is
giving another window to the black money hoarders to dump their remaining
holdings through their affiliated political parties. Thus the avowed war on
black money by Narendra Modi is turning into a farce. Not only that from the
earlier assumed objective to demonetize the cash holdings of political parties
other than the BJP prior to the upcoming State Assembly elections the present
government is restoring the holdings of the political parties. This is clearly
wheeling-dealing of the highest order by Narendra Modi to buy peace with the
Opposition parties in the wake of massive outcry of the woes of the common man
in the wake of the demonetization. Thus you once again see that the common
man’s interests are sacrificed at the altar of the benefit and convenience of
the political parties. To rectify the situation the government should put out a
notification that as far as demonetised notes and related taxation are
concerned the status of political parties will be the same as any other
entities. This action will save Narendra Modi’s credibility and loss of face
that is if he is bothered about it. Postscript: As is usual with this
government, the very next day that Hasmukh Adhia, Secretary in the Finance
Ministry, had spoken about the tax exemption to political parties, the Finance
Minister, Arun Jaitley, clarified that political parties will be treated just
like any other entity for all deposits of demonetised notes post-Nov 8th.
This is a welcome clarification which confirms that the government is staying
with the original script in terms of demonetisation being used as a weapon
against black money. But at the same time it throws up a concern about a
’committed’ bureaucracy wherein it may be construed that the bureaucrats akin
to dogs are willing to sit on their back legs in an erect position on their
haunches with their tongues lolling out to please their masters.
In Politicians Deal Making, Interests of
Citizens Are Sacrificed
The role of the Opposition in Parliamentary
democracy is to take up issues by which it can match swords with the party in
power and through that contest try and come back to government and rule the
country. In the lack of understanding of this basic and fundamental principle
has Rahul Gandhi erred in judgment by falling for the trap laid out by Narendra
Modi in agreeing to meet the Congress Vice-President on the last day of the just
concluded Winter Session of Parliament. Just on the penultimate day Rahul Gandhi
had announced that he had bullet-proof evidence on the ‘personal corruption’ of
the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and because of that he was not being allowed
to speak in Parliament. Thus what changed on 16th Dec 2016 that
Rahul Gandhi suddenly became silent on the ‘personal corruption’ issue and
thought it fit to raise the issue of writing off of farmers’ loans with an eye
on the upcoming UP elections? This apparently immature act which has become the
hallmark of Rahul Gandhi in his random forays of coming before the arc lights
of politics put paid to the rare Opposition unity that had been forged on the
demonetization issue and the woes that it had imposed on the entire country.
The joint march scheduled by the Opposition parties to Rasthrapati Bhawan to
submit a memorandum on the demonetization issue was called off in a huff by
parties other than the Congress because of Rahul Gandhi meeting the PM alone.
The demonetization issue affected the entire population and was not a sectoral
issue based on which all the Opposition parties had got together was something
that was lost on Rahul Gandhi as also the chance to show the strength of a
joint Opposition to the BJP which has a dominant position in the lower House of
Parliament.
In another sense one cannot understand what
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of ‘personal corruption’ of the Prime Minister have
to do with the demonetization issue unless it is a tangential attempt to show
that Narendra Modi’s attempt to occupy the high moral pedestal of fighting
against corruption through demonetization is suspect because of him being personally
corrupt. But what comes out is that this is a clear example of deal making between
the Congress and the BJP. There was a case being heard in the Supreme Court
brought in by Prashant Bhushan based on data from investigative reports of
authorities that brought the corruption of a number of ministers in Gujarat
quite some time back, Narendra Modi included, wherein some industrialists had paid
substantial sums of money to these ministers. This could be the corruption that
Rahul Gandhi is talking about. In anticipation that the Congress could rake up
the issue at the present time the BJP had decided to accelerate the Augusta
Westland scam that had links to the then UPA PMO and indirectly the Gandhi
family. Thus to keep the BJP temporarily quiet on the Augusta Westland case,
Rahul Gandhi probably decided to bring up the ‘personal corruption’ of Narendra
Modi in the hurriedly called press conference in Parliament where he was
flanked by most of the lesser Opposition parties. The BJP had two options to
handle this matter. The first was to extend their hand by offering Rahul Gandhi
a meeting with Narendra Modi for which there was an already existing request by
the Congress party. This was done and Rahul Gandhi fell for it scuttling in the
process the unity that had been forged with the Opposition parties on the
demonetization issue. Narendra Modi had the other choice in handling Rahul
Gandhi, as Arvind Kejriwal has put it and that was if the Congress Vice
President spoke about Modi’s involvement in corruption then Modi would have had
Robert Vadra arrested on the number of real estate scams that this person is
believed to be involved in. But this latter option would have allowed Modi’s
name to be linked openly with corruption and Vadra’s arrest could have put the
cat among the pigeons making the future progressions in the matter uncertain.
So for Modi it was convenient that Rahul Gandhi walked into the meeting. Thus
you will see the demonetization issue which is a national problem was reduced
to a game of chess between two political adversaries about their involvement in
corruption. Is this in the interest of the nation is what we should all ask?
Will we continue to be played with in sanctioning the corruption of our
political masters and taking sides as to which scam is bigger or justifying
scams by the number of them that can be attributed to one political
personage/party or other and stating that it is our turn now?
Thus you see the affairs of the people are the
last the last thing that is in the minds of our politicians since they are
obsessed with protecting themselves from criminal action against various scams
and preserving their ill-gotten money. All parties are the same and this is the
common refrain among them – Protect Your Own.
We have seen yet another session of Parliament
washed out without much work. This is costly for the nation. This also means
that our legislators are not working. For this should not the principle of – No
Work, No Pay – apply. In contrast in the next session you will see the MP’s
bring forward the bill enhancing their salaries and perks which has been long
pending. They will also pass it without we, the common citizens of this country
able to say anything about it and voice our common opinion that they do not
deserve a raise. Thus you will see that in our form of democracy the citizens
who are the building blocks of the system are completely disregarded once an election
takes place and then for the next 5 years we see our legislators do with
impunity whatever their like. This has to change.
Hence should we look at throwing out these
corrupt bunch of politicians and try to change the system of government to a
Presidential form in the hope that a new system and hopefully a more able and honest person as President
can lead this country out of the present morass that it is in.
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