My Opinion

On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi levelled charges of corruption against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally, but there is nothing new in these charges. The charges, based on some diary entries, were first levelled by Trinamool Congress two years ago in Parliament, later by Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi Assembly, and lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, in course of its hearing, remarked thrice that there were insufficient evidences to prove these charges, and no inquiry can be ordered based on these papers. The apex court, in another case, had clearly observed that levelling of charges against persons in higher, constitutional posts, can lower the dignity of the post and sully the nation’s image. One should keep the court’s observation in mind. Now, coming to the charges levelled by Rahul Gandhi, let me share that the papers, from which he quoted Prime Minister Modi’s name, also has names of many political leaders, even from Rahul’s own party, and several chief ministers. There is hardly any big political party, whose leaders have not been named. To put it in brief: Rahul revealed less, and concealed more.

There were millions of people across India who did not rush to banks to deposit their demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, since there were long queues at almost all banks soon after the announcement. Many of them were waiting for the queues outside banks to lessen. On November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared Rs 500 and Rs 1000 as no more legal tenders, he had clearly told the nation to keep calm and not rush to banks to deposit their old currency notes, as the 50-day deadline given was to end on December 30. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also told public that there was no need to rush to the banks to deposit old currency and people should wait for the rush at banks to reduce. But on Monday, the RBI came up with fresh instructions saying anyone depositing more than Rs 5000 will be questioned on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier. This is not fair. Similarly, the government on November 8 had promised that no questions would be asked of individuals depositing old currency notes upto Rs 2.5 lakhs, but four days ago, it was notified that such individuals will also be questioned. By constantly changing regulations and announcing fresh restrictions frequently, the government is creating confusion in the minds of people, and people’s trust is being gradually eroded. This is causing unnecessary woes for people who had accumulated savings through honest means.

It is true that the 10-year UPA rule was infamous for a string of big scams, it is also true that the UPA government did not take any step to curb corruption and black money, it is also true that a cashless economy will be beneficial for the nation, but the fact remains that in large parts of our country, villages do not have electricity, what to talk of wi-fi and bandwidth. Until and unless these things are in place, digital payments will not be possible in rural areas. It is good that raids are being carried out in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Guwahati, Faridabad, Gurugram, Churu, Bhopal, Vadodara to seize old and new currency notes, but this also creates suspicion in the minds of bonafide customers queuing in for long hours to get a paltry Rs 2000 from ATMs. One suggestion that has been given is that the new currency notes that have been seized in raids should be put back in circulation, by securing court orders, so that people can get much needed relief.

The only silver lining in the current demonetization scenario across India is from Bihar, where cash is available at most of the ATMs and there are fewer queues. People of India had been supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetization move, but even after 34 days they are facing cash crunch in most of the cities and towns. The RBI had sent adequate amount of new currency notes to the banks, but all of it, did not reach the common people, standing in queues at banks and ATMs. Due to the three-day break in bank work due to holidays, the situation had become acute. It would have been better if other chief ministers had followed the Bihar CM in asking banks to keep open on holidays. In another interesting fact, Rs 242 crore in new currency notes have so far been seized since November 8. This seized cash could have filled at least 141 ATMs across the country. The decision of government to set up a task force headed by a CBI officer to probe all currency seizures is thus welcome.

It is more than a month since the government decided to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes from circulation, and yet the queues at ATMs and banks continue. Bank officials say they are short of cash, and ATMs also face the same cash crunch. The government has been claiming that the RBI has provided adequate number of new high-denomination currency notes to the banks, but the common man standing in the queue is now asking: where have the new currency notes vanished? People who had been supporting Prime Minister Modi’s demonetisation move have started suspecting that a huge quantity of new currency notes have been siphoned off from the banks to well-connected people and the common people have to stand for hours in queues. This perception could cause problems for the government in the long run. The government has now started scrutinising the transactions of banks and those hoarding new currency notes are being raided and nabbed. Yet the government has to give a convincing answer as to why new currency notes have not reached the common people in sufficient numbers.

On November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes will no more be legal tender, most of the experts had estimated that a big part of Rs 14.17 lakh crore rupee in old currency notes will go out of the banking system as black money. The State Bank of India had pegged its estimate at nearly Rs 2.5 lakh crore, which would go extinguished out of the system, and this would have been a windfall for the RBI and the government. The liabilities of RBI then would have reduced. But the deputy governor of RBI on Wednesday gave figures to say that nearly Rs 12 lakh crore old currency notes have already been recovered as of December 5. There are 25 more days left, and it is now incumbent on the government to explain how it will benefit from the demonetization move. A senior Finance Ministry official explained that mere depositing of huge amount of currency notes into bank accounts does not mean that black money has been converted into white. He said, the Income Tax department would now go into all big transactions, which, in itself, will be a Herculean task. One estimate is that out of Rs 12 lakh crore deposited, nearly Rs 7 lakh crore have been deposited in accounts where more than Rs 1.5 crore in old currency notes have been deposited in one go. Transfer of huge amounts in old currency notes in bank accounts, and exchange of huge amounts of old currency notes with new ones could not have taken place without the connivance of senior bank officials. The government now needs to take action against such errant officials too.

Jayalalithaa was a great fighter throughout her life, she never conceded defeat. An able administrator, a great orator, she understood the travails of her people.

Those in the opposition were her political rivals, but she always accorded them respect. Jayalalithaa’s personality was a mystery wrapped in enigma. When her party leaders visited her at home, she used to stay on the first floor, and spoke to them on an LED screen, but her hold on the party was complete.

Her ministers used to take oath keeping her photograph in their pockets, they used to lie protstrate in front of Amma, and yet Jayalalithaa’s magic among the masses worked wonders, only because she adored her people, and the masses, in turn, adored her. That is how Jayalalithaa became Amma for the masses.

Many people have raised questions about why Amma was not cremated according to Hindu traditional rites, but laid to rest. The reason being, the father of the Dravidian movement C N Annadurai had specifically wrote in his will that his body should be laid to rest, and not cremated.

Jayalalithaa’s mentor and political guru M G Ramachandran was also laid to rest. Taking this tradition forward, Amma was laid to rest on Tuesday.

And now, looking to the future, Jayalalithaa’s closest aide Sasikala, who had been her companion for the last two decades, barring a brief period of quarrel, will now be looking after the day-to-day affairs of AIADMK.

Amma herself met and spoke to few people in her daily life, and most of the conversations were done through Sasikala. So, those in Tamil Nadu politics do know what had been Sasikala’s role, and what is going to happen in the years to come.

Many, many years ago, in 1987 to be precise, I had watched the massive funeral procession of Jayalalithaa’s political mentor, the great M G Ramachandran. I saw thousands of his fans and supporters weeping, running barefoot behind the cortege. There were incidents of self-immolation and arson in several cities of Tamil Nadu following MGR’s death. I fervently pray this will not happen this time, and the people of the great state of Tamil Nadu will face the tragic news with stoic forbearance. In essence, the politics of Tamil Nadu had been coagulating behind single personalities over the last several decades, and ‘Amma’ Jayalalithaa was one of them. The future of the entire party AIADMK is dependent on Jayalalithaa’s image. The baton of governance may have passed over to O. Panneerselvam, and that of the party to Sasikala Natarajan, but the future yet lies in the realm of conjectures. My deepest condolences to the innumerable supporters of AIADMK in their hour of grief.

The new unaccounted income disclosure plan announced by the government on Monday is a welcome step.

It will give another chance to people who have hoarded black money and were working in the parallel cash-based economy that had been in existence for the last sixty years.

This scheme is expected to bring in much-needed funds to be spent on irrigation, education and health.

Moreover, it will not give such people a chance to complain that there were not given any opportunity to disclose their unaccounted income.

On the other hand, the common man, no doubt facing cash crunch woes, has emphatically demonstrated on Monday that it is not with the Opposition on the demonetisation issue.

The strike call had no effect in most of the metros and urban clusters.

The Opposition itself appeared to be divided, with BSP, SP and JD(U) refusing the support the strike call.

The significant part is that not a single major Opposition leader is saying that Prime Minister Modi’s demonetisation move is wrong.

All the charges that are being made by the Opposition relate to lack of adequate preparations to implement the decision.

The horrendous act of mutilation of an Indian army jawan’s body by Pakistani soldiers near Line Of Control in Machhil sector of Kashmir is a cowardly one, an act against humanity. Understandably, this act has created a sense of outrage in the minds of the people of India. This is the second time in two months that an Indian soldier’s body was mutilated by Pakistan. India must respond and teach Pakistan army a lesson. Our army and BSF jawans are on high alert on the border, and are trying their best to stop Pakistan’s designs to infiltrate terrorists into our territory by providing covering fire. Our enemy’s desperation and intentions are clear. Our army and BSF should take care that no more fatalities occur on our side. The seizure of two new Rs 2000 currency notes from two terrorists killed in Kashmir points to the fact that terrorists and their masters sitting across the border are desperate because of the government’s decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1000 old currency notes.

Circulation of currency notes in India is to the tune of nearly Rs 16.5 lakh crore, out of which Rs 500 and Rs 1000 legal tenders that were withdrawn on Nov 8, were to the tune of nearly Rs 14 lakh crore. The government feels that the financial position of almost all banks will improve with the infusion of huge amount of cash. The banks will then have money to loan out to new startups and other big companies. This will surely give a boost to the manufacturing sector and will create more job opportunities. With better liquidity, the banks will be in a position to lend at lower rates of interest. This will also help the real estate sector which is in urgent need of infusion of money. With nearly one-third of the money circulation reaching the banks within a short span of eight days, the government now feels that its overall demonetisation strategy is surely moving in the right direction.

Of course, questions have been raised about why exemptions were not earlier given to farmers and families who had weddings to organise. The government’s point was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted utmost secrecy before making the announcement, and had consulted only six persons. These advisers had anticipated problems and had suggested solutions accordingly, but now that more and more problems are coming to the fore, the government is providing more exemptions and solutions. When it was found that people were jamming queues outside banks to exchange old notes more than once, the govt came forward with the idea to use indelible ink to ensure that nobody exchanged old notes more than once. Similarly, farmers and families involved in wedding preparations were given exemptions. The latest problem is that though the government is announcing exemptions, the implementation and execution part needs more speed.

It is gratifying to note that the use of indelible ink on the forefinger of those exchanging money in banks has resulted in shortening of queues, as some people were exchanging old currency notes multiple times in the absence of any such restriction. Some experts had doubted and mocked at the government’s decision to use indelible ink, but this method has helped. There is another suggestion for banks to issue tokens to people desirous of exchanging or depositing money. This will do away with long queues outside banks and people can use their time for other productive uses instead of standing in queues for long hours. One should admire the resilience and untiring efforts of bank employees across India who are engaged in executing the demonetisation plan. The overall work is gigantic and the resources at the disposal of the government are limited, but one hopes, we will soon tide over the cash crunch crisis.