OPinionatED
or
VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 175 Date: 07.11.2016
Contents:
1. Desirable Demonetisation But Sloppy & Insensitive Implementation
2. The Reality of OROP
3. TV Channels: Self-Regulation or Monitoring of Content
Desirable Demonetisation But Sloppy & Insensitive Implementation
The sudden demonetisation of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes was like a 'surgical strike' against black money, counterfeiting and corruption. With the BJP government and PM Narendra Modi in the mood for such action after the hype created around the surgical strikes against Pakistan post- Uri attack, this demonetisation exercise is probably intended to keep the hype going. There is no question that such action against black money, counterfeiting and corruption is very much needed but then more thought should have gone in the implementation of the measure. Because the 'collateral damage' out of the withdrawal of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes on the common man during this transition to the new currency, albeit over just a few days, can be quite crucial and distressing.
There is a belief that government and our leaders should look after the people particularly those that are weak and vulnerable. Unfortunately in this measure this aspect has been conveniently forgotten. In the intention to hit hard, those possessing black money and involved in corruption who hoard the large denomination currency notes, the common man who has maybe a few of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes is finding himself for a day without any money considering that the banks and ATM's are not operating. Modi should also have realised that the Rs. 100 note and the denominations below that hardly buy anything these days and the Rs. 100 notes are probably less in circulation than the Rs. 500 which has become the popular note given the prices prevailing all around. But considering that Modi is not a family man, how do you expect him to know all this?
Thus the assessment should have done as to which note, the Rs. 500 or Rs. 1000 is the more popular for black money hoarders and demonetise only that. The other note could have been demonetised after another couple of years. This would have softened the impact on the common man since then he has an alternative to the Rs. 100 note. This option would not have achieved the desired level of eliminating black money but then in the interest of the larger interests of the common people and softening the impact on them such a decision would have been better.
These aspects are very important particularly in a country like ours where education levels generally across the whole country are low, communication tends to be distorted and everything is slanted to the convenience of those in authority or those with more resources. In the rural areas particularly not having money could be critical even for a day. Like it is said - Jor ka jhatka dhire se lage - but then for an event management specialist like Narendra Modi going for the maximum impact was, one would think, more important.
The demonetisation exercise has also, one would believe, certain other concurrent objectives for the BJP and Narendra Modi, mostly political. Firstly, it takes off the attention from the fact that the economy is in a mess and nothing is moving. Secondly, with the advice that a Rs. 2000 is being introduced, it indicates that the government has given up its fight against inflation and has reconciled itself to the prevailing high prices. Like in some of the banana republics and countries in South America where inflation is rampant, you have currency denominations of 50,000 and 100,000. So shortly in India you will see probably notes of Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000. Thirdly, with elections around the corner in two important States, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, this is a clever way to take away the cash hoards of the opponent parties like SP, BSP and the Congress cramping their ability to fund elections. With inside information available to the BJP on the demonetisation, Amit Shah would have probably converted his party's currency war chest to holdings in gold. It would not be surprising that election dates for the two States are announced in a month. Everything is fair in love, war and at election times! Lastly, for the black money hoarders there is a silver lining on the dark clouds of demonetisation, since with the launch of the Rs. 2000 note they can plan to have just half the amount of space or less while storing their ill-gotten wealth in the future. Even they have acche din coming to them. Thus Narendra Modi's demonetisation exercise has multifarious effects.
What next in Narendra Modi's plan of things? Maybe a short, high intensity war with Pakistan in March or April 2017, considering that the Defence Minister has recently denied going to war against Pakistan, which in the weather man's terminology means the opposite is likely to happen. With all this on the anvil, who can stop the BJP coming back to power in 2019 with a resounding majority?
The Reality of OROP
The politics being played out in the suicide of the army veteran over the OROP issue is rather unfortunate. The fact that Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal joined issue on the matter to the extent of making their presence very much visible at the Haryana funeral showed their humanitarian immaturity. In trying to make political capital in the death of a human being and that too a confused and elderly one, these wet-behind-the-ear wannabe politicians are showing up their selfish and rapacious side. The ex-serviceman had a grouse which enormity had an overbearing effect on his mind and unable to rationalise the problem with anyone, he decided to take the extreme step of taking his own life. Rahul Gandhi's sweeping statement that OROP has not been implemented is going to sow further confusion in the minds of other ex-servicemen with similar problems and it would not be impossible that we would have others considering other similar extreme steps. The BJP government on their part are not making anything easier for the ex-servicemen with the Defence Minister making a comment that all OROP issues would be resolved in two months time. If it was known that there were problems in OROP then would it not have been better that helpdesks should have been opened at the Cantonment/Canteen Stores Dept./Medical Clinics where these ex-servicemen normally visit and telephone helplines installed at specific offices of the defence services where the affected personnel are able to seek clarifications. Where these ex-servicemen survived maybe the bullets of the enemies at our borders it is rather unfortunate that they should take their own lives for lack of sensitivity of their own people who sit in the services as their present bosses.
TV Channels: Self-Regulation or Monitoring of Content
The one day ban of some TV channels notably NDTV India while covering the Uri attack is in no way a restriction of press freedom nor an attempt by the government to muzzle the press. The media for long, the TV media in particular, has been given a long rope and they have been literally going consistently over the limit of the boundaries of national security, human rights etc. This has come to the fore from the times of the 26/11 attack in Mumbai where we had the TV reporters posturing like the NSG commandos lying flat on the ground etc., interfering with the activities of the commandos and the fire fighting personnel and generally making a nuisance of themselves to the extent of their being a hindrance to the objective of the action like taking down the terrorists or fighting the fires. Little do these TV reporters realize that they look ludicrous and most people watching TV have the whale of a time laughing at their antics which takes away the gravity of the problem that is being depicted. In the Uri case, the issue is not whether the matters commented on the TV channel were already in the public domain but the fact is that there was no further need for the TV channel to go and further expose it. Someone may have made a mistake of exposing the particular information but there is no further need of repeating and compounding the mistake. Similar exposure of sensitive information has happened or happens when the TV channels cover news relating to our space or missile program or new acquisitions of military hardware. The TV channels need to be sensitive of the fact that it is our space/missile program on which we are giving out information and be careful about it. The prerogative of giving out information is with the space/missile organization and the TV channel need to clear it with them before they can spew information out or stream pictures of the launch site or of the missile like Brahmos for instance. This happened also when the C-130 Hercules was incorporated into the IAF. Though Jane’s Book will give all data about the C-130, there is no need of us to relay it out. At all times in matters of national security the attempt of all involved including the TV channels should be to make it difficult for our enemies to get information and not volunteer it ourselves, mostly to score brownie points over your colleagues or against a competing TV channel. Like it is possible that the Pakistanis do not know about Jane’s Book to get information on the C-130! So do we have give to them on a platter! We have also seen that when people are attacked on the street by someone the TV reporters instead of using their presence and influence to protect the victim and/or defuse the issue, they let the incident play out fully so that they have a ‘good’ story while the victim gets seriously hurt. Similarly when there are disasters man-made or natural we have seen TV reporters asking those affected – How do you feel now? What is there to feel when a flood has wiped out your last assets or a building has collapsed in which you have lost a near and dear one or a fire from which you have managed to escape with limited burns etc. What is there to feel? Do we not all have the same feelings put in the same situation. In cases where a mob is involved or there is police action like a lathi-charge or firing one can accept that the TV reporters cannot intervene but they can at least do that on one on one situations. The TV channels persist in carrying such pictures to ‘shock and awe’ the viewers and boost their TRP ratings which are today the indicators of success in the visual media world. It is time to stop that and either allow the TV channels to become more responsible and be self-regulated while having the government as in the ban incident act as a watch dog to award punitive measures in the event the TV channel strays from the accepted and agreed charter of what they can show and what they cannot show. One cannot understand why there should be a debate on such matters and allow it to go up to the Supreme Court is not understandable.
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