Assured of financial help to meet most of their basic needs ‘perpetually’, the freebies cult is changing the mindset of people and making them complacent A few days back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked senior bureaucrats to point out deficiencies in government policies. In response, some officials have zeroed in on ‘the freebies promised by winning party in state elections’. In the past, freebie – an acronym for “something given free of charge” – found a place in a corner of the manifesto of parties. In recent years, this has occupied the centre-stage and holds the key to winning elections. For instance, in February 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal mesmerised Delhi voters by promising freebies....
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Category: Black money & Corruption
Freebies – road to economic disaster
A few days back, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi asked senior bureaucrats to point out deficiencies in government policies. In response, some officials have zeroed in on ‘the freebies promised by winning party in state elections’. In the past, freebie – an acronym for “something given free of charge” – found a place in a corner of the manifesto of parties. In recent years, this has occupied the centre-stage and holds the key to winning elections. For instance, in February 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal (AK) mesmerised Delhi voters by promising freebies. They returned AAP to the seat of power with a thumping majority giving it 62 out of a total of 70 assembly seats. Then, the...
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The truth about the money trap
Shshank Saurav’s book, Anatomy of Black Money, is a good read for all those who want to get a sense of how cheats are defrauding India of its limited resources without getting lost in financial jargon, writes Uttam Gupta There is an inherent tendency among criminals and other dubious operators to conceal income generated from illegal activities such as smuggling, drug trafficking, proceeds of corruption in public offices etc from the eyes of the Government and its agencies whom they have reason to fear. However, people tend to hide even income earned from legitimate sources with the sole intent of avoiding payment of tax or any other levies such as stamp duty, registration charges, market fee etc. The income concealed...
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Bank fraud: No fetters on CBI, please!
A sweeping order that the CBI will look only at frauds involving a certain amount, or higher, will send out a wrong signal. It is tantamount to glossing over the wrongdoings Even as the Government is making all efforts to ensure that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — after witnessing 8 per cent contraction during 2020-21— returns to a high growth trajectory, it is concerned about the tepid recovery in credit availability which is considered to be the sine qua non of growth. According to the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the annual non-food bank credit growth in January this year was at 5.7 per cent compared to 8.5 per cent in the same period last...
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Bank frauds – no fetters on CBI please
Even as the Government is making all out efforts to ensure that the GDP (gross domestic product) – after contracting by 8% during 2020-21 – returns to a high growth trajectory, it is concerned at the tepid recovery in credit availability which is considered to be the sine qua non of growth. According to the latest data of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) annualized non-food bank credit growth in January this year was slower at 5.7% compared to 8.5% in the same period last year. Credit to industry, however, contracted by 1.3% in January 2021 as compared to 2.5% growth in January 2020. A major (perceived) bottleneck is the reluctance of bank officials to sanction loans who fear they...
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GST – still work in progress
Billed as a ‘transformative’ reform of post-independent India, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has completed three years since it was launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on July 1, 2017. It is time to take stock and see whether there has been any tangible progress in terms of achieving its underlying objectives. GST is a single nation-wide tax that subsumes within it more than a dozen taxes of the erstwhile dispensation prior to July 1, 2017 viz. central excise duty (CED), service tax, sales tax/value added tax (VAT) besides a host of local taxes such as octroi, purchase tax, turnover tax and so on. At the outset, let us take a look at major anomalies afflicting the old regime....
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Scams – why there is no check
Any promise to act against corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, dubious businessmen and others who misappropriate precious resources is always welcome by the people. This was an overarching factor that catapulted Narendra Modi (he made grandiose promise to eliminate corruption and scams) to the seat of power in 2014 and for a second term in 2019. In case however, the required action is missing, they feel cheated; the pain is even more when the country is hard pressed for resources as during the current year. In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court (SC) on July 6, 2020, the Union government has suggested ‘there was a trend of people accused in high-value economic offences approaching the SC directly – instead of an...
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Tackling bank frauds
An overarching promise, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had made at the time of taking charge for his first term beginning May, 2014 was to root out nepotism and corruption in all matters of governance – be it in various ministries/department or its agencies including public sector undertakings (PSUs) including banks. Modi’s clarion call to all in this regard was encapsulated in the euphemism he often used viz. ‘naa khaoonga, naa khaane doonga’ (neither, I will take bribe, nor allow anyone else to take). To be fair to Modi, his commitment to this overarching principle is reflected in all his policy decisions, administrative actions, delivery of services and overall governance in every sphere. That he has made an mark in dealing...
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A system failure
The bailout given to Yes Bank, using public money, emboldens banks to continue with their game plan. The Govt and the RBI must do everything to give a body blow to this attitude Much before the crisis at the beleaguered Yes Bank reached a flashpoint [when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 5, 2020, superseded its Board, appointed ex-Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of the State Bank of India (SBI) as its administrator and imposed a moratorium for a month on critical operations such as sanction of fresh loan, renewal of existing loans, Rs 50,000 ceiling on withdrawal of money per account] some depositors had already sensed it coming. They withdrew about Rs 18,000 crore during the first six...
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Yes Bank saga – it’s a system failure
Much before the crisis at the beleaguered Yes Bank reached a flash point [when the banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 5, 2020, superseded its Board, appointed ex-chief finance officer (CFO) of the State Bank of India [SBI] as its administrator and imposed moratorium for a month on critical operations such as sanction of fresh loan, renewal of existing loans, Rs 50,000/- ceiling on withdrawal of money per account] some depositors had already sensed it coming. They withdrew about Rs 18,000 crore during the first six months of current year [deposits declined from Rs 227,000 crore as on March 31, 2019 to Rs 209,000 crore as on September 30, 2019]; of this, Rs 16,000 crore were withdrawn...
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