VOX POPULI  
                                                              by
                                                         S Kamat
                                                              as
                                                        Aam Admi       
                                        Issue: 225                Date: 30.10.2017     
                  skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:   

1. Throw Out The Present Brood of Boorish Politicians 

2. Modi Should Practise What He Preaches

3. Are We Moving Back To Emergency Days? 

4. Controversy Against Tipu Sultan Jayanti Unwanted

                                   Throw Out The Present Brood of Boorish Politicians 

The breed of politicians in India is going from bad to worse. We have the worst kind of immaturity and cussedness generated by them being thrust on the people of India with the impudence generated on the strength of numbers achieved out of elections. But this impudence is misconceived since whether it is the winning of an election or the majority amassed in a legislature is based on the manipulation of a largely illiterate majority which is swayed by what are called policy sops that provide incentives or direct cash or gift provisions. We have seen this gratification process in almost every election more so in States like Tamil Nadu where it is done in excess. Is this not corruption? Where on one hand we complain of corruption all around us in daily life and want to be rid of it, we ourselves fall prey to taking something in exchange for exercising your franchise once or twice in five years. Rather contradictory, is it not? We need to analyse this trend of the largely illiterate or less educated voters being manipulated and who thus moderate or should we say completely change the results of the election process.  There may be an existing common and considered opinion of the candidates and/or parties involved in the election process which is overturned by this larger number of voters that is bought out and thus throw up winners who may not be all that deserving to represent us as legislators. Maybe this is the reason why urban voters who may be considered to be more educated than others across the length and breadth of India show a disenchantment towards voting. The politicians on their part want the present distorted system, one cannot say biased since there is no element of coercion stopping anyone from participating, to continue since they can manage it to their advantage and remain installed in positions of power.

With the electorate as we have positioned above as largely illiterate or less educated, we need to consider now the match with their leaders who are again largely illiterate or less educated. Across the party spectrums to find a political leader who is educated is like panning for gold and waiting anxiously to see the flash in the pan. Though one must say that the level of education in successive legislatures both at the Centre and in the States has been over the years increasing but it still remains far from satisfactory to believe that we have involved, capable leaders competent of considered reasoning.

Take the oldest party in the country, Congress, and their topmost leadership which has questionable if not dubious educational qualifications. Moreover when there are enough local leaders why the Congress has to have someone of Italian origin at the top is not understandable. Is it to show that the Congress who claim secular credentials has an open mind on who can lead them and that a person of foreign origin is also acceptable? But this open mind has gradually led to a situation today that the Congress party can be said to have no mind at all, so wide are its contours that the horizons are no longer visible!

Let us now look at the nouveau-political outfit the BJP and its broader NDA allies which occupy the seat of government in present times. We are led by a chai-wallah, who takes pride in his origins. Nothing wrong with that but as long as he is aware of his limitations. Unfortunately that he is not and that is precisely why the country both economically and in terms of general law and order is deteriorating badly and very fast. His education credentials at the same time remain dubious. Then as Finance Minister we have an advocate who has the gift of the gab as is required in his original profession but finds himself at sea as an economist but refuses to accept that fact. He is fond of saying that he is working for the long-term benefit of the people but does not realise that for a starving man today's food on the plate is more important than tomorrow's feast. Again he does not realise that mouthing platitudes and jumping on the plank of morality like the need to pay taxes, not to indulge in black money etc. etc. is not going to get the Finance Minister too far unless the engine of the economy is revved up and that too, quickly. Among the other leaders in the rank and file after retiring all those above 75 years like L KAdvani, Murli Manohar Joshi et al, the BJP find today a severe shortage of leaders with true mettle. So sundry persons are elevated to senior party and ministerial positions which has given the country an irregular dose of humour right from taking over the reins of government in 2014 with their foot-in-the-mouth comments. The latest in these annals is KJ Alphons, Tourism Minister holding independent charge, which one would think is important enough, making comments over the last one month, the first that high fuel prices should be acceptable to owners of 2-wheelers and cars since if they can own their vehicles they would have the money to pay the higher prices for petrol. He probably does not understand that a personal vehicle is an essential part of life these days what with the crowded public transport system. The second comment made by him after that was considering that the number of donors who give their eyes after their death is very low  in India, Alphons wanted to make it mandatory for all citizens to donate their eyes. Little does the Minister understand that such matters are personal decisions and one cannot thrust these strictures on the people since otherwise he and his party will be open to the charge of being a fascist party. Alphons has continued with his foot-in-the-mouth affliction by saying that the Agra incident a couple of days ago where a Swiss couple was beaten up by a group of young men is nothing much since there have been similar incidents in Europe and also shootings in the US! What the correlation is God only knows since the Agra incident was an incident of eve-teasing and/or moral policing. In the other parties of the NDA alliance the situation is not very much different with the leaders with either no or little education making similar outrageous comments and there is nothing to commend their prowess of the tasks assigned to them.

What is disturbing in this scenario is that educated, intelligent people of proven competence who exist both within the political parties and outside in our society, more in the latter than in the former, are seen to be kowtowing to political leaders who are not educated, have little to show on their ability and proven performance but who claim mass followings. One cannot understand this phenomenon which is obviously either a need to be proximate to power with its concomitant rewards of holding high positions in institutions and/or to be in the running for governmental awards. This a rather sad commentary on the state of affairs within our society.

However, one thinks that this situation of uneducated boors leading the country can be tolerated for long and it is time that we had a re-think or maybe a revolution in educated, sensible people taking a pro-active part in the affairs of the nation. More people within their own spheres of influence or near their places of residences or among their peer groups should actively pursue matters of public interest. This will at the least get us to a wider public opinion on what is good and is beneficial for this nation and its citizens. It is something for all of us to ponder, deliberate and arrive at one's own action plan which can then be knitted into a larger action plan for the country. 

                                             Modi Should Practise What He Preaches

Narendra Modi has said that all political parties should have democratic practices in their working. Should he not practise what he preaches. Does this prescription not apply to him & the BJP? If he believes in inner party democracy, why did he shut up one of his own party MP's from Maharashtra who had wanted to raise a question about farmer suicides and relief to these farmers in his constituency at a Parliamentary party meeting sometime back. Just like Demonetisation could not chase the mirage of Black Money so also mouthing words in the manner of japa's will not get the mirage of Democracy into the BJP.

                                        Are We Moving Back To Emergency Days? 

                        

Continuing with the intolerance theme in the early part of this BJP government innings, we have  Rajasthan run by BJP's Vasundhara Raje moving to make a law that would require government permission to write anything adverse about legislators, government officials including judges. The legislation also states that the names of those involved in any controversial actions cannot be disclosed by those writing about them without specific government permission which would come within 6 months! This would mean that if there is any genuine issue involved be it of corruption or policy the Rajasthan government would attempt to close the stable doors after the horse has bolted! The media and the Opposition parties have been up in arms against this legislation which harkens one back to the days of the Emergency. Freedom of expression will be strangled by this law which is being ostensibly done to limit fake allegations and also legal cases filed by chronic litigants. Governance does not mean closing the tap and opening it at will and when convenient to the rulers but the ability to regulate the flow of water through the tap is what Vasundhara Raje should realise. With royal blood flowing through her veins falling for such a narrow-minded ploy is a black mark on Raje's fair face. Better sense has prevailed it seems lately and it is reported that Vasundhara Raje is having second thoughts about the legislation which was tabled at the opening session of the Rajasthan Assembly but has now been referred to a Select Committee of the House. With the earlier marking of the houses of the BPL families in Rajasthan with prominent yellow painted labels and now this legislation, questions will be raised on the ability of the present BJP government in Rajasthan to govern. 

And then the Tamil film -  Mersal, where criticism is aimed at some comments made on GST by the principal actor to which the BJP took umbrage and asked for these to be deleted. Firstly, comments made in films are not to be taken seriously but then with Tamil Nadu cine politics being primary, one can overlook that lapse. Secondly, the question arises whether the citizens of this country cannot express their opinion on  government measures through any medium, press, music or cinema? The producers and director of Mersal took the accommodative path and said that they are willing to make the cuts where the comments on GST have been shown. They must have done this since the controversy has enabled the film to garner almost Rs. 250 crores at the box-office since it was released both locally and in overseas circuits. The matter with Mersal did not end there but the Income Tax authorities thought it fit to dig out a case against the principal actor of the movie and move against the actor. Though the IT Dept. has clarified that the tax issue of the actor was pre-existing, the timing of the notice is sure to raise eyebrows. This has been the default practice of this present government that wherever criticism or dissident is shown, move in with more than required force on the person through government agencies lie the police, IT or the ED.

Similarly, a professor at JNU is being currently hounded for some statements on Kashmir that he made in a panel discussion on the Al Jazeera news channel. Free speech as we know is being curbed randomly and deliberately by this government which is an attack on the fundamental right of our democracy which every right minded citizen should protest. 

An impartial assessment of the situation prevailing within the country in the light of the above two latest incidents is that with this present government we are moving progressively to an Emergency like situation that is likely to be imposed by the year 2020, just after the scheduled 2019 General Elections. The Emergency will be thought to be necessary by the present NDA government led by the BJP to contain the increasing disenchantment among the people about  government policies and the inability and helplessness of the authorities because of incompetence to tackle these matters.   

                              Controversy Against Tipu Sultan Jayanti Unwanted

The controversy being generated against the Tipu Sultan Jayanti  y the BJP in Karnataka with Central Minister Anantkumar Hegde protesting even his name being put in the invitation is rather sad. How will the BJP and the people associated with the party who never fought for freedom, understand about Tipu Sultan who waged war against the British to remain free & at one time had the invaders with their backs to the wall and on the brink of leaving the country? There have been excesses by all Muslim rulers in the country including the Mughals and Tipu Sultan is no exception but we need to understand about the times prevailing then where waging war was a necessity and some of the tactics and/or results of war are none too pleasant. In contrast Tipu Sultan is commended by the seers of Sringeri and/or Kukke Subrahamnya temples during his time for benevolent rule. In fact today Tipu Sultan is considered to be the father of modern rocketry used in war and research is on at Bengaluru to try out some of the rockets used by Tipu Sultan in association with government agencies at the new rocket testing range in North Karnataka. It is said that this rocket technology was stolen by the British after the defeat of Tipu Sultan as spoils of war, refined and then used by the Western powers. Concluding, one must say that most people these days and particularly those from the saffron brigade indulge in controversial statements, the more horrendous the better, about figures of our history without any proper study. They also pick on people that are dead and gone and who cannot respond. It is time therefore that a training course be instituted for the BJP cadre, ministers included, on Indian history so that they have a better working knowledge on the contributions of the public figures among our ancestors.

                                               **********************************

                                                          VOX POPULI  
                                                                  by
                                                             S Kamat
                                                                  as
                                                           Aam Admi
                                         Issue: 224                     Date: 23.10.2017
                  skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:     

1. Governance Issues Brought To The Fore At Election Times 

2. More No-Brainers from the BJP like on the Taj Mahal

3. Standardised Procedure Required to Deal with On-The-Job Discipline & Offence Issues

                   Governance Issues Brought To The Fore At Election Times 

The BJP in government is an abject exercise of top class ineptness. On any issue irrespective of the valid merit of the suggestion or criticism that the government gets, the first reaction is denial and an attempt to deflect attention, the second is rebuttal and thirdly, determined stone-walling. The first is done just to give any response that takes away the attention from the issue. While the last is activated not with any conviction of greater knowledge or competence on the issue but  filled with the arrogance because 'they are the government and they cannot be wrong'. You can see this happening on the GST issue where a multiplicity of issues had been raised ranging from reducing the number of slabs of tax, to re-classification of items into the more correct slabs, glitches wth the portal, the deadlines for filing returns, the problems faced by the textile, jewellery, household industry and the SSI sector. But then nothing was done on any of the issues but low and behold when the PM wanted the focus to shift to Gujarat what with the upcoming elections there, it was like a fairy appeared with her magic wand and what was beyond discussion became an active debating point. The government also started making the right noises that the GST slabs would be reduced, the 28% tax items reviewed, more daily use items shifted to the nil or 5% slab and the export industry given concessions as well as relaxations for filing returns. Difficulties still remain and are compounded somewhat but at least a start has been made. Even the PM has said that the problems faced by the jewellery and handloom sectors that are important for Gujarat also will be resolved shortly. The point to all this is that if GST was an important reform for the economy why was it treated not as such and difficulties faced by the user segments not resolved expeditiously and why does an impending election to Gujarat have to bring the GST into full focus. Elections happen randomly while dealing with the economy is a priority as well as a full time job which is where this government has been failing to judge issues correctly. This is more so now with the economy in bad shape. In fact the comment in most circles is that if the PM have done less circumnavigation of the globe and devoted himself to putting the economy back on the rails maybe we would not have been in this present position. 

As for election mode the PM has already slipped into that mode which is actually his comfort zone by making comments like the Nehru-Gandhi family being against Gujarat and that his proposal in 2013 as Gujarat CM to re-build the Kedarnath temple after the damage caused by the massive floods was rejected by the then UPA government. Both comments are not verifiable or backed by proof but then like in election times everyone knows that rhetoric rules which is what the PM is banking upon. 

During the Kedarnath tragedy then, the initiative taken by Narendra Modi as Gujarat CM to evacuate Gujaratis from the people stranded in the earthquake and floods was completely irresponsible. When disaster strikes every victim is equal and no one should say that I will provide better services for my people. Such initiatives polarises feelings of the victims and distorts relief operations. This is not desirable unless we have a rare order of co-ordination which as we all know is sorely lacking in our country. In the upcoming elections, winning Gujarat is very important for Narendra Modi while winning the other States going to the polls is important for Amit Shah.

                            More No-Brainers from the BJP like on the Taj Mahal

We have another no-brainer from the BJP doing the rounds these days and that is trying to de-recognise the Taj Mahal as part of our heritage. Heritage as we all know is something good, something bad and is a khatta-meetha kind of thing. By drawing these red herrings across the media firmament once in a while to justify the saffron agenda the BJP is only ending up discrediting itself. They show their lack of political maturity and the lack of depth in their leadership. The unfortunate part with the BJP is that you scratch the skin and you find rabble rousers. There is a silver lining to the issue about the Taj Mahal since thankfully both the UP CM & the PM have made statements recognising that the monument is part of our heritage and valued at that.

 Standardised Procedure Required to Deal with On-The-Job Discipline & Offence Issues

The other day there was a news report in Goa papers that Sabaji Shetye, the erstwhile Addl. District Magistrate in Panjim, who had been caught red-handed while receiving a bribe has been re-instated and posted at the  ESI Hospital. This is rather surprising! How can an official caught flagrantly in an act of corruption be restored in service? One would have expected that once Shetye was suspended after the incident and upon completion of the enquiry, he should have been removed from service. Is that not what a government having the fight against corruption on top of its agenda do? Instead of that the person is re-instated into his job within a few months. Corruption is a vice from which there is no cure or reform. The corrupt like a drug habit has the offender repeating his corrupt ways.

Again on the hi-profile Tejas Express last week that runs between Mumbai and Goa, the suspected food poisoning incident was highlighted where some 22 odd persons were hospitalised. Follow-up news thereafter said that 2 persons from the catering and managerial departments had been suspended because of the incident. Then finally we were told that there was nothing wrong with the food served on the train and the incident happened because of some of the children vomiting in the AC compartment which caused successive nausea with other co-passengers which again included some children. If so what happens to the 2 suspended officials? One would presume that they would be re-instated. But then the question 
is, why were the officials suspended? In this instance the officials were not directly responsible for the incident? Why did the Railways not wait until a departmental enquiry was complete? 

Thus you see you have one incident where the person caught in the act of corruption is restored to service in a matter of months while in another 2 persons not directly responsible are suspended without any formal enquiry. The point here is that we do not have an established system where acts of omission and commission while on the job are treated the same way and handled for punitive action in a systematic manner. One has to admit that of the 2 incidents cited above one relates to a government employee and the other to an employee of a government corporation which implies that the procedures for handling the issues may be slightly different. But nonetheless we see the government a little too generous while the quasi-government corporation a little over-zealous in laying down the line for its employees. 

                                                        **********************************

                                                                   VOX POPULI
                                                                                by
                                                                           S Kamat
                                                                                as
                                                                           Aam Admi               
                                                           Issue: 223            Date: 16.10.2017                                                   

                    skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1. Rathin Roy Needs To Change His Lenses

2. Think Simple, Think Basic, Think Proper 

3. Jaitley Should Be More Diplomatic Even As Finance Minister 

4. Get To The Bottom Of Jay Shah Co.'s Phenomenal Growth

5. On A PM Who Speaks

6. Modi Should Become More Rooted In Reality

7. Carelessness & Negligence At BHU Hospital

                                              Rathin Roy Needs To Change His Lenses

Rathin Roy, a member of the PM's Economic Advisory Council has commented that the recent lowering of the projected India GDP figures to below 7%  by both the IMF & the World Bank need not be given weight since they are mostly always wrong. Roy needs to remove his spectacles since used to seeing fudged figures all the time in India be it GDP, IIP, CPI, WPI etc., he is seeing independent agency figures like that of the IMF & the World Bank in the same way. The latest IIP figures show a spurt of 4% which one hopes is the reality since the country desperately needs a recovery. The tendency of people in senior positions these days like Roy to shore up their own credibility by undermining that of others as seen above is very common. Even Rajeev Kumar, the current Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog just prior to his appointment had been severely critical of this government's economic policies. But once appointed he is singing a completely different tune. 

                                                Think Simple, Think Basic, Think Proper 

In Goa there seems to be an insistence towards gadget installations like CCTV etc. This inspite of the papers carrying the other day pictures of a non-functional CCTV camera installed in the Ponda municipality. Across Goa you will find umpteen public  installations of CCTV that are not working and adding to it has no meaning. When it comes to gadgets that are being installed for public utility we should first check their ruggedness to withstand the environment in which they are to operate, whether indoor or outdoor, and also the level of education and training of the personnel who will operate the equipment. The next aspect is maintenance and its easy access for repair since you can install the most sophisticated of equipment but in the absence of service support, all your investment is going to go waste. CCTV as a means to record evidence in case of traffic offences/accidents is acceptable but we have to remember that it will not save lives. Thus in case of traffic issues, traffic signals are better since by controlling and regulating traffic they contribute more directly to saving lives.

Recently we had the fire at the Panjim bus stand  which caused a lot of damage to public property. Here again there was talk of sprinkler systems, smoke detectors being installed which could have possibly limited the spread of and maybe extinguished the fire. But here also we have to relate this to another news report that the Fire Force during the  Panjim bus stand fire found the fire hydrants not working. So if the equipments are there but not ensured regularly that they are properly working then there are of no use in an emergency. All this is fine but here again we should look at the basic fire fighting device and that is fire extinguishers. Were these available at the stores or in suitably prominently public places in the premises so that people could access these and use them to limit/extinguish the fire before the fire fighting force personnel arrive. One does not remember seeing any fire extinguishers at the Panjim bus stand or for that matter in any public building and n Goa. But in any case like in the report carried in today's papers that the fire extinguishers in the Secretariat have not been checked for the last one year, where is the chance of firstly, finding these equipment in public buildings in Goa and secondly, finding them functional.

So the idea is - Think Simple, Think Basic, Think Proper - when it comes to installing any equipment in public buildings and locations in Goa. This would save money and also save lives and property in the long run. 

Postscript: The above scenario is true anywhere in India as we have seen recently in the incident of the 23 people killed in the stampede at the foot overbridge at Elphinstone Station on the Mumbai suburban network. The high traffic of people over the bridge could have been assessed by the Railways traffic department and alternate arrangements to move people made. But the apathy of the authorities in persisting with a - chalta hai, chalne do - attitude resulted in the deaths of the unfortunate people left without choice but to use the doomed bridge. Similar is the story of roads being flooded in sequence during this monsoon at Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru. Mumbai has a problem with the high tide issue which restricts evacuation of water into the sea but none of the other cities have any excuses for the flooding but the sheer negligence of authorities. Bengaluru being the worst since with a couple of inches of rains some of the localities are flooded and the authorities make an asinine statement that the 'city got more rain than it could handle'. Will the BBMP put out a map showing how many inches of rain at the maximum is each locality designed to handle for the information of the citizens. 

                                    Jaitley Should Be More Diplomatic Even As Finance Minister 

Arun Jaitley while on his trip to the US of  A is behaving as if he is the Finance Minister of the BJP and not the Finance Minister of India. By alluding to some political leaders that have been trying to derail the GST implementation, he is washing the family dirty linen in public. That too in the US which has a very active media. But then the US media lately has been busy with North Korea, Trump's antics and Weinstein's sexcapades. But even then trying to actively seek kudos at the cost of the country does not behove India's Finance Minister who has gone there on official duty for the World Bank & IMF meetings.

                                     Get To The Bottom Of Jay Shah Co.'s Phenomenal Growth

Yeshwant Sinha is absolutely right the BJP moral fabric is slowly unwinding in the matter of the phenomenal growth of turnover of Jay Shah's Co. in just one year. Earlier there have been rumours of the Adani's being close to the top echelons of the BJP leadership but with Jay Shah, the strike is more direct. One cannot understand all this furore if the figures for Jay's Co. are legitimate. He should be actually be proud and thank Wire for catapulting him into the limelight. In this country where Income Tax raids are a badge of honour what was written about Jay's Co. was innocuous. Like they say 'dal me kuch kala hai' otherwise why does Jay Shah use heavy artillery both directly by filing a Rs. 100 crore defamation suit and then fire from the BJP & government shoulders with Ministers lining up to swear his innocence ranging from Piyush Goyal to Rajnath Singh. In all fairness the government should institute an enquiry into the matter to reveal the truth.

                                                          On A PM Who Speaks

Amit Shah while at Amethi y/day 10th Oct 2017 has said that we have now a PM who speaks. There is no doubt that there is truth in this comment. But the unfortunate part is that Narendra Modi sometimes speaks too much and on issues which are not convenient nothing at all. There are also times when he speaks without understanding and at most other times does not mean what he says. But given the three years or more that we have seen Modi as PM, it is maybe better to have a PM who does not speak but acts than a PM who speaks but does not act or acts wrongly.

                                             Modi Should Become More Rooted In Reality

Narendra Modi while rebutting that the there is nothing wrong with the Indian economy stated that under the previous UPA regimes the GDP went below 5.7% three times and now it has gone down only once. He has said this expecting that the bottoming out of the economy is going to happen very shortly and from now on if will be up and up for the GDP. He should have however added that we should be prepared for a hard landing at the time of bottoming out and that we should bring our cushions along to protect our bottom! Modi is back in election mode again with the upcoming prestige staking Gujarat elections and conveniently forgets that he got the massive mandate from the people in 2014 for precisely the reason that the UPA's performance was indifferent.  And that he was voted into power with a strong enough mandate to set right the UPA's wrongs. But what did Modi do in the last three years but circumnavigated the globe three times, did not appoint an Economic Advisory Council except lately and showed the door to a reputed economist who was in the short-list for this year's Nobel Prize in Economics! Modi should have had the sense to at least focus on the economic growth of the country before moving on to other matters. The other distressing thing is that Modi and his government lives in denial since even the day before appointing the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) he was saying that there was nothing wrong with the economy then why did he need the EAC, he could as well have flown on his own. Then he quotes that electricity and coal production has boomed in the country and that is why he is offering the Saubhagya scheme of free electric connections to the poor and the very next day in the papers it is said that suburbs of Mumbai under the State Electricity Dept. which rarely had power interruptions are seeing 5-6 hours of load shedding and then in y/day's (9th) paper if was reported that Maharashtra had bought 1200mw of power to meet the shortfall. Similarly power plants in Karnataka and Andhra are having low stocks of coal ranging from a week to a few days and if coal supplies are not stepped up load shedding is the only recourse. So does Modi go only on the basis of figures given him on paper to announce his further schemes or does he insist that the ground situation needs to be surveyed to get him the real picture. Like in Goa where we live, power goes off throughout the day at least a dozen times for periods ranging from 5 minutes to an hour and this happens every day. So where is the surplus power and will Modi's plan to penalise the Discoms for load shedding but for technical faults really work? This government is great at making rules that sound good but are impossible to implement. And then there was the scam ridden LED lamp distribution purportedly to save power of which nothing more is heard of. Was this a one time scheme since LED lamps fail sometimes or given the quality of lamps supplied under the scheme , quite often? So it's time that Modi and his government take a reality check and verify facts before announcing any further schemes so that he remains credible. Modi also personally has to realise that he cannot continue to live in election mode all the time.

                                       Carelessness & Negligence At BHU Hospital

At BHU hospital there are reports of deaths of some 20 persons during June 2017 because of industrial nitrous oxide instead of the medical grade given for anaesthasia. The firm that manufactures the gas and supplied it had no licence to manufacture the medical grade gases be it nitrous oxide or oxygen. Inspite of this the firm responding to the committee appointed to probe the incident has the audacity to point out that the deaths were not related to the gas supplied by them since the same industrial nitrous oxide was supplied by them to hospitals in Allahabad and Lucknow who have reported no deaths! Such situations can happen only in Uttar Pradesh one must say. What were the doctors and other surgery staff doing? Did they not look at the marking on the gas cylinders before using it for a surgical operation? This is a shame not only for the BHU hospital but India as a whole. 

                                                              ****************************

                                                         VOX POPULI
                                                                by
                                                          S Kamat
                                                                 as  
                                                         Aam Admi
                                         Issue: 222       Date: 09.10.2017

     skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1. Nature's Fury Makes A Mockery of India's Smart City Programs

2. Capital Punishment For Rape of Minors 

3. Why Modi, Shah, Jaitley &  Co. Behave the Way They Do?

4. GST On Track To Become A Big Mess

5. Stray Cattle & Dogs Not Welcome In Goa Or Across India Too

6. President Kovind Should Have Avoided Inaugurating Shirdi Airport

                           Nature's Fury Makes A Mockery of India's Smart City Programs

Nature's fury over the last couple of years has made a mockery of India's Smart City programs. The latest to meet problems is Hyderabad which was inundated last week by incessant rain over a single day. The 2nd or 3rd time the flooding has been happening for the city in the last 18 months.  Each of our Metro cities that are part of the Smart City program have been facing similar problems with excessive spells of rain or cloudbursts notable among which is Bengaluru which with a couple of inches of rain has most of the roads in some areas completely waterlogged brining normal life to a standstill. The city has also discovered over the last few years that houses, commercial complexes, hospitals etc. have been constructed over storm water drains clogging discharge and/or reducing the capacity of rainwater evacuation. Thus where the focus for our first and second level cities should have been to have proper infrastructure for water, sanitation, sewerage and transportation to improve the quality of life for the common man, we have the Smart City programs looking at wi-fi Internet access etc. the peripheral things which by right should be at the bottom of the list of things to do. It is time we learnt the lessons that Nature is teaching us and recast our plans for the modernisation of our cities. It has been brought out by many studies mostly by NGO's that our city planners rarely concentrate on our below the ground systems specially sewerage and drainage which has been now brought to the fore now by Nature. One hopes that our authorities will take notice and start correcting the situation. The same applies to the fact that 80% or more of  our water bodies are contaminated which has again been brought out by the foam formation in Bengaluru lakes where one again hopes will get the authorities thinking on ways and means of preserving our water bodies which generally form reservoirs at times of flooding and thus can help in reducing the severity of inundation of habitated areas.

                                              Capital Punishment For Rape of Minors 

Incidents of rapes of minors is registering like clockwork across the country including in school premises where normally one would expect children to be safe. Something needs to be done on this on a priority basis. The first option could be to fast track all these cases and amend the laws so that capital punishment is given to the perpetrators. If within a span of 3 months from the occurrence of the rape the attacker is hanged, it will send a message out to likely rapists that the government means business and they better be wary and desist from their heinous plans.  Long term considering that the majority of the cases are occurring in our Metro cities, we need to look at stopping migration from our rural areas into cities in search of work or jobs. Such people leave their families back home and not finding a release of their sexual urges tend to commit rape including those of minors who one can say are soft targets.

                         Why Modi, Shah, Jaitley &  Co. Behave the Way They Do?

It is time for some psychoanalysis now when it comes to the Indian political leadership.

Let us start with Narendra Modi. After the Nov 8th 2016 misadventure of demonetising the high value currency notes Modi went into a shell somewhat awed by what he had sprung on the unsuspecting Indian populace after seeing the unending queues at banks and reported deaths of people in these lines. Consequently if you recall Modi was supposed to make some dramatic announcements over New Year's Eve in 2016 that people had believed would be to ease the pain that they were facing with Demonetisation or some other earthshaking economic measures. Nothing happened to the scale of people's expectations and the announcements were rather inconsequential.

Just about a week back, a similar context arose and with the economy in doldrums people were expecting a major revival package to be announced. Indications were seen in the press that after Modi and Jaitley reviewed the economy with the officials from the relevant ministries a major economic package was in the offing. But nothing happened again and not even the Modi-Jaitley meeting with the economic ministry officials took place. It was only Jaitley who met the officials and came out with some lame remark about the economy. Though Modi came out thereafter with an announcement of again the badly conceived Saubhagya scheme of providing free electric connections to the poor and some other schemes but none of them carried much weight.

The third recent major happening within the government was the Cabinet reshuffle. This had been a long time coming after the two resignations that of Manohar Parrikar and Suresh Prabhu and a lot of hype had been built into the announcement. But it again turned out to be a damp squib and the only change worth noting there was the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman as the Defence Minister. This would be the second time after Indira Gandhi had a woman Defence Minister but even that milestone was devalued by saying that with the 3 Service Chiefs there is not really much to do for the Defence Minister except to deal with foreign suppliers of defence equipment. So what was Manohar Parrikar doing in the highly touted Defence Ministry at that time stated to be a very important and critical Ministry? Was he just twiddling his thumbs? And is that the reason that he decided to move back to Goa as Chief Minister?

Thus if you see Narendra Modi does all the groundwork, building up for the big moment and then just before the arc lights are switched on, he gets cold feet and retracts from implementing the momentous measure. Except for Demonetisation he has not really belled the cat on any single initiative since this BJP government came to power in 2014. And even on Demonetisation he failed big time. In contrast when it comes to making speeches at election rallies that is long on wind but is short on actual content, Modi is in his element. Because here there is a deniability and nobody in India takes election promises seriously, which Modi very well knows.

This speaks of a personality who is unsure of himself and would rather not be held accountable. This is probably because of his lack of formal education and the absence of support of a family network that generally rounds up perspective and makes a person more confident and sure of himself. Or the scale of the debacle of Demonetisation has really shocked him that he is hesitant to come out with anything big? The lack of the family support network tends to make an individual behave rashly at times like we have seen happen to Modi in the Demonetisation exercise. These personality faults and also the refusal to publicly accept his mistakes also lend to the tendency to avoid media since with more than half of his present term getting over Modi has not held a single press conference. But for the Demonetisation time when he came on national TV he has not addressed the nation on any issue or one does not recall of his having spoken to a collection of people in the country like industry or trade associations except recently when he addressed the company secretaries gathering. While in contrast you will see him when abroad making it a point to address PIO's or NRI's who throng these meetings on a curiosity or nostalgia basis and Modi can then revel in the adulation without having to deliver on any count. The avoidance mode towards local people is also reflected by his radio addresses called Maan ki Baat where again it is a one-way interaction and Modi gets a chance to mouth platitudes. These are all to shore up his image and re-instate in people's minds that his intentions are good. Thus to protect himself Modi creates a shell around himself of aloofness, a difficult to access manner and an abrasive attitude to being questioned or towards dissent. These traits we have all seen in his behaviour in public life more so after 2014 upon becoming the PM. The intolerance to dissent we have seen in the Vidarbha MP reporting that in one of the party meetings he was abruptly put down by the PM when he wanted to raise the issue of farmer's woes in his constituency. A confirmation of the reticence and hesitation to address any issue is what we have seen at every crisis point that was in front of the nation since 2014 like the intolerance issue, the student unrests in JNU & Osmania University, the beef eating and cow issue, where on the last issue Modi has spoken only as a matter of last resort leading in the interim to a conclusion that he is behind these issues or it has his and the BJP's tacit support.

There are many who talk of Modi's foreign policy successes but the perceived achievements are because of India, the country and not the man, Modi. India commands a certain degree of respect now  and that is where other countries want to deal with India keeping in mind that position. Any other person in the PM's chair would have been able to do the same. Modi's hugs are being talked about to be a trademark signifying warmth and bonhomie but they are being not so warmly received by some international leaders like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin who are seen visibly to cringe away from the supposedly warm embrace. The hug is now being taken as in some African and Polynesian countries, the form of greeting that is rubbing cheeks or rubbing noses which some world leaders consciously avoid. The warmth shown by Modi in his personal interactions has backfired or should one say not reciprocated in instances like with Nawaz Sharif and Chinese leader, Xi. Even President Abe's recent visit to Gujarat where he was accorded a tumultuous welcome could be considered wasted since he went back and called for a snap poll in Japan. And media there is reporting that at this time Abe's approval ratings are on a slide. So if Abe does not come back to power all that was invested in his Gujarat visit may be considered wasted though Modi can claim that the Bullet Train project, which is not very desirable, was cleared by Abe. Modi's behaviour in his foreign policy overtures is an over-anxious tendency while showing a little more reserve would possibly have resulted in more stable gains for India.

There is another trait in Modi's character and that is he likes a winner since one can say that in his conceit, he considers himself a winner. That one can assume is the basis of his relationship with Amit Shah, the BJP President since Shah has been delivering him every election, more or less except notably Delhi, that has been held since the 2014 general elections. The relationship with Modi for Shah is important for him since otherwise he will get embroiled in the criminal cases that have been chasing, some amounting to murder. This is the reason why Shah has ensconced himself recently as a Rajya Sabha member since apart from his relationship with Modi, this status can give him some semblance of protection from the judiciary.

Thus Modi emerges as a person who in his childhood was deprived of warmth and understanding and because of that struck out on his own making the party as a foster home and its then leaders of the RSS, his heroes. This kind of explains his inability to settle down in married life and staying away from his wedded wife even after achieving the highest post in the country, that of Prime Minister. Those schisms from childhood lead Modi to act most times as a loner, emerging selectively in the limelight at timings of his choice to address matters of also his preference. These tendencies sometimes make him go overboard characterised by rashness, bravado, daring etc. etc. call it what you will. And then realising the enormity of what he has done retreat after that into a shell, incommunicado and with no explanations for his actions or clarifications on the next course of action. These are clear indications of a repressed individual who is sometimes unable to control his precipitate actions and who does not admit the adverse results of his actions and refuses to take responsibility for them. These emerge from a childhood where parental care and support was lacking and in later life the deprivation of a family net around him that rounds perspective, builds rationality and clarity in actions.

We will now turn to Arun Jaitley who exactly fits the bill of the Hindi saying - Andhon Me Kana Raja. The BJP faced with a paucity of leaders who can be considered as ministerial material has in Jaitley a man for all seasons. That is the reason why Modi dumps portfolios on Jaitley without blinking an eye and more so because he has no choice. Jaitley had started off with the Finance and the Defence Ministries and then divested Defence when Parrikar came into the Cabinet and was reverted with the portfolio when Parrikar decided to return to Goa. And only lately has he given up Defence to Nirmala Sitharaman upon her appointment after the last Cabinet reshuffle. Jaitley always nattily dressed and fond of a turn of phrase is considered a good communicator and that is why the BJP falls back on him in Parliament to turn the tables on the Opposition. An advocate by training Jaitley's burning urge is wanting to be known as an economist and he therefore prefers the Finance Ministry to any other. Jaitley revels in the technical financial terms that are the bread and butter of the Finance Minister and rolls them off his tongue spiritedly, one wonders maybe without fully understanding what they mean. Bereft of a popular base and having lost the elections from Punjab for the Lok Sabha, Jaitley has to be content with being a perennial Rajya Sabha bench warmer. Knowing fully well about his indispensability in the Cabinet to Modi, Jaitley lately is troubled that for all his efforts in the Finance Ministry the Indian economy equated to the elephant is showing very definite and consistent signs of wallowing in the mud for a longer time than it is desirable. Jaitley also knows that Modi knows about this and the charmed life that Jaitley has led in the Finance Ministry may be at risk. Otherwise why did Modi not to turn up for the meeting for announcing the revival package for the economy the other day, is what Jaitley is mulling about? This is more so in the context of the upcoming State elections particularly in Gujarat which is very important for Modi & Shah to win. Any signs of the economy catching a serious cold will jeopardise the elections and hence the urgent modifications to the GST rules. This is being done as many would say not because the GST needs it but more the Gujarat elections need it.  As a minister Jaitley instead of being sympathetic to the people's plight has been behaving more in the confrontational manner and tends to take the admonishing path than the helpful way of a pat on the shoulder and suggesting that we walk the difficult way together. Even last week at a conference of income tax officials he stated that the Indian people are largely of the tax-avoiding kind. Such comments are not going to win him many friends across the Indian population. Jaitley was at the forefront of the India Shining campaign when the last NDA government was in power and it looks like he is doing a re-run of the same thing little realising that at that time the NDA lost and there is a big chance that the same thing could happen again. That's what happens when people get drunk on their own perceived achievements, they act without caring for the problems and sensitivities of others around them.

Others in the Cabinet are mostly unknown quantities but for the cheerleaders like M A Naqvi and Ravi Shankar Prasad who at the drop of a hat and without analysing the situation and using their minds jump to the defence of the Prime Minister whenever Narendra Modi says or does anything.

Concluding one would have to say that with this kind of a leadership at the helm of the country where can India go but only downwards.

                                                     GST On Track To Become A Big Mess

   

With the GST mess following on the back of the Demonetisation debacle, Arun Jaitley seems to be aiming at breaking the record of the maximum number of circulars issued for any economic measure by the government and its agencies. With Demonetisation holding that pedestal earlier, GST inclusive of the newspaper advertisements on FAQ's should be close to dislodging and claiming that position. What with Jaitley stating that the government may be open to reducing the number of slabs under GST the stage is being set to expectation which may set off more confusion and less compliance among the small trader community which is the current bottleneck. Thus one cannot understand why the government cannot think through a measure before proceeding with its implementation. The fact that the GST council had to carry all the States along is being cited as the cause for the structural lacunae but this could have been all ironed out and then the measure put  in place. Where was the hurry to  rush through GST claimed to be 'the biggest financial reform since Independence'?                    

                Stray Cattle & Dogs Not Welcome In Goa Or Across India Too

Note: This must be a common problem across India since the newspapers carry stories of children & elders being attacked by stray dogs particularly in Bengaluru & Kerala. On our occasional travels we have seen stray cattle on the streets of most cities now. 

One of the leading dailies of the country recently carried an article - Cow: From Mata to Menace - which highlighted that for all the lip service that the saffron brigade pay to the sacred cow, the actual situation on taking care of the bovine animal leaves a lot to be desired. We see this situation in Goa too where stray cattle are seen on our roads. This is a menace to those walking on the roads as also to traffic particularly at night times. With all our roads not properly lit, these stray cattle loitering on the roads will be the cause for accidents which will not only hurt these animals but also become the cause of human fatalities. These animals have to be taken off our roads on a priority basis since the authorities cannot talk on one side of wanting to reduce road accidents and on the other hand leave these stray cattle as impediments to traffic flow.

It is not only stray cattle but also dogs that need to be taken off our roads and neighbourhoods since they are again a menace to traffic and also a danger to people by way of dog bites and possible rabies transmission. The other day the papers carried a report that the first charter flight that landed at Dabolim bringing Russian tourists was greeted by dogs when they came out of the airport. But for the fact that it is amusing to see that in Goa even dogs like tourists, we need to get serious about taking off the stray canine population from our neighbourhoods. Continuing on a tone of levity, one would not be far wrong to assume that the dogs exceed in number the human population in Goa. 

                      President Kovind Should Have Avoided Inaugurating Shirdi Airport

President Kovind inaugurating Shirdi airport is completely irrational and out-of-context with the reality of the sacred place. One is sure the President knows that Shirdi is a place of pilgrimage for Sai Baba's devotees. Sai Baba lived a very simple and austere life and that is what needs to be made an example of to the devotees. In Maharashtra there is also a 'wari parampara' of devotees going on foot from Alandi to Pandharpur a distance of some 300-350 Km. to pay homage to Lord Vitthal and his consort, Goddess Rakhumai. This kind of pilgrimage is also there in Northern India. In fact this is the way that devotees need to come to Shirdi and not by plane as the airport signifies. However, there is no objection to having an airport at Shirdi since the business and trade community can avail of faster transit and the connectivity it will offer. But President Kovind inaugurating the airport sends a wrong message on his choice and judgment.  He needs to be careful about choosing the kind of functions he goes to in the first few months of his Presidency to build his stature and credibility since he is a relatively unknown figure outside the saffron brigade. By inaugurating the Shirdi airport President Kovind is sending out the message that he subscribes to the present BJP government program of polishing up the India Shining initiative which panders to the rich at the cost of the poor.

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                                                          VOX POPULI
                                                                    by
                                                              S Kamat
                                                                     as
                                                              Aam Admi

      Issue: 221                     Date: 02.10.2017 

  skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:
1. Should Jaitley Go?

2. Mumbai Stampede: The 'Chalta Hai' Attitude Should Stop

3. A Lesson In How Not To Increase Revenue Generation & Try And Legitimise The Economy

4. Saubhagya Scheme Free Power Through Solar Power

5. Media Turning Out Old Hash in Dawood Extortion & Hyderabad Arab Marriage Stories

                                                           Should Jaitley Go?

Yeshwant Sinha is absolutely spot-on in relation to his critique of the present government's handling of the economy which has failed to arrest the slide and is moving towards a crisis. The problem with the handling of the economy has been the lack of knowledge and experience on the part of Arun Jaitley in financial matters. Being an advocate and a good public speaker means Jaitley is very attracted to the turn of phrase. Thus you will find him these days talking of cashless economy, squeezing the availability of high denomination currency etc. etc. with which he is enamoured. Whether he understands any of this is a debatable matter since going by what has happened since 2014 one must conclude that his knowledge of finance is passable at most. Until Nov 2016 there was very limited financial reform activity and even the Big Bang Demonetisation measure is suspected to have been engineered without keeping Jaitley in the know though later he picked up the baton smartly and made a brave attempt to prove that he is part of the PM's A team. Then the measure of GST followed which was great in concept but again suffered in structuring the rates and in implementation. That both would greatly impact economic activity was misjudged and then overlooked in the obsession of defending these measures. It was a case of trying to do too many things, too soon. The compulsion was also to show that the government was serious in its attempt to implement economic reforms. That the Economic Advisory Council was set up just last week also indicates that the PM is probably not too happy with Jaitley's functioning and needs more heavyweight economists to give him a better feel of things. Not only that last week it was reported in the press that the PM & Jaitley would review the economy along with the officials and after that a stimulus package was to be announced. But that meeting did not happen because the PM failed to turn up and Jaitley came up with a lame excuse. The stimulus package was also not forthcoming since it was only the Saubhagya scheme of offering free electricity connections to the poor which was announced and that is a populist measure with an eye on upcoming State elections like Gujarat. In fact the best thing is for Jaitley to go, but then who will be the Finance Minister? This is in fact the BJP's problem, they do not have enough bench strength to bring about changes in the Cabinet. Modi also has no clue of finance and economic matters which is apparent from the fact that while launching the Saubhagya scheme, he could have remembered his Make in India initiative and offered solar packs to the 4 crore targeted families making it a force multiplier for the fledgling solar power equipment industry and catapulted it to world status with these massive volumes. This was yet another opportunity lost is what we will have to sadly conclude because of lack of grasp and bad judgment like the earlier Demonetisation and then GST. 

                              Mumbai Stampede: The 'Chalta Hai' Attitude Should Stop

Why do we always wait for accidents like the latest stampede on the Parel - Elphinstone foot overbridge at Mumbai before we wake up to the need to improve facilities or provide additional infrastructure? It is not only with the Railways but we saw the same thing happen with the Ryan school in Gurugram post the child Pradyuman's killing that the CBSE inspection team came with a list of do's and don't s against the school. Why were these issues not brought up after the last inspection in which case maybe the child would have lived? Going back to the Mumbai stampede, the Railways was clearly aware of the high pedestrian traffic over the bridge, otherwise how have they released a tender on the same day for an additional bridge at the same spot. This 'chalta hai' attitude that we commonly have should be stopped forthwith and wherever anything has to be done should be implemented before the matter reaches crisis point. Commenting on the Mumbai suburban railway network, though it is the lifeline of the city, it is fast becoming a death trap with the pressure of the rapid and massive increase of commuters and is in need of a serious and comprehensive review of services to meet the burgeoning demand. 

A Lesson In How Not To Increase Revenue Generation & Try And Legitimise The Economy

The problem faced by this BJP government vis a vis the economy are two fold. The first is that the revenue coming in from taxes is low and the second is the existence of a parallel economy variously called the black money economy which is purported to be as big as the white economy but does not come under the tax net. With tax revenues being low resources for any activity become scarce and then the government has to start the process of rationing which becomes difficult considering the many competing areas that desperately need funding. Not only that because of the lack of resources big development plans have to be kept in abeyance. As for black money various governments have tried multiple means to check and control it but sadly with little success. The ground situation and the objectives as put out above look good but let us now examine how the present BJP government went about it. 

From 2014 there was lot of sabre rattling being done on the populist agenda of bringing back black money from Swiss banks which had seized the public mind. But nothing really happened on it since the Swiss will always stick to their secretive laws and those Indians that have stashed their black money in Swiss and similar tax friendly havens keep their ears close to the ground and are agile to move their ill-gotten wealth to other locations before even the stodgy Indian tax authorities have made their first move. There has been much talk about the Swiss offering access to accounts that are considered illegal or black which will happen only if per Swiss law the account holders are believed to be linked with criminal activity and will be given only on prospective basis and not retrospective. Given with no success on the black money issue, the BJP government latched onto the leak of information from banks like UBS and Standard Chartered Bank that claimed some Indians had monies with them. The monies stated in the accounts looked small and included many legitimate accounts opened by individuals and corporate entities with due permissions from RBI. Added to this, there was pressure mounting on Modi's government to deliver on its election promise of transferring Rs. 15 Lakhs into each citizen's account upon recovery of the elusive black money. This figure indicates that the BJP government was well aware of the size of the black money hoard abroad. Lately the Basel-based Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has released data which shows that offshore wealth held by Indians in tax havens has surged nearly 90% since 2007 to $62.9 billion (about Rs 4 lakh crore) in 2015-about 3.1% of the country's GDP in 2015, the latest year for which data is available. Also, contrary to popular belief, Switzerland is no longer the preferred destination for this wealth. Over 53% of this Indian wealth is now held closer home in Asian tax havens like Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia. Swiss banks hold 31% of Indian wealth, down from around 58% in 2007. Thus as you can see Narendra Modi and his government have been firstly, unable to stem the growth of offshore wealth held by Indians since it continued to grow even after 2014, secondly, they have been barking up the wrong tree and thirdly, have painted themselves into a corner with their loud claims to bring back black money. 

There was a need therefore to do something drastic that would show that the government was serious about black money. What was there if the black money holdings  abroad were getting stuck in procedural wrangles, there was enough opportunity to do something closer home and that my friends was what prompted Demonetisation of the Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes on Nov 8, 2016. Enough has been said and written about the why's and wheretofores's of Demonetisation and its consequent effects on the economy deleterious or whatever,  we will not go through that here but stick to the strategic intent of the government in announcing Demonetisation. The idea was good but the implementation was bad because the mechanic had forgotten to bring his wrench so there was a leak and in the first fortnight after 10th Nov 2016 the leak became a hole through which all the black money escaped. This left the government looking for pennies to justify their intent and look for alternative stories to divert attention from the trauma of Demonetisation unleashed on the unsuspecting and gullible Indian population.

That is where the government commenced State sponsored financial terrorism on its people to justify their errors. The first assumption in this approach was that all Indians are crooks and none of them pay their income tax correctly. The second assumption was contrary to our judicial system where you are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, here you were presumed guilty of not paying proper income tax until you proved that you had. In line with this premise the government warned in no uncertain terms to those who were depositing the excess cash they had in the demonetised notes and more than the limit of Rs. 50,000 that they would have to define the source of these funds. In the absence of proper explanation these funds would be taxed at penal rates was the finger-wagging admonition. This affected small businesses and housewives since the measure was sudden and small businesses had not been able to adjust their billings and receivables pattern to move away from cash and were caught napping. Here the amounts were not black money but money caught in the gap while moving from one accounting entity to another and required the consent of the buyer and the seller and could also involve having the say-so of third parties. From that point onwards until today you will find the raucous orchestration from the Finance Minister down to the officials where the recurring theme is - We will get you! In this you would have seen that almost 2 lakh entities who deposited more than Rs. 2 Lakhs or more are purportedly on the IT man's radar as reiterated recently to track down the total quantum of Rs. 3 Lakh Crore suspected deposits. Similarly more than a lakh of individuals who took advantage of the black money declaration schemes have to be investigated. You can therefore see the extra load on the IT authorities given their existing work and the backlog of past cases that is already on their plate. So the question that arises is whether the tax authorities will be able to deliver on this work load in any meaningful manner or will we see again selective assessments and corruption on the table.

Immediately after Nov 8th, 2016 mostly abroad in the Gulf where there is a large Pak population it was being said to Indians that your Prime Minister snatched away even the money that was in your wallet. Similarly all the people like elderly people, servants and women who work as maids etc., people in villages essentially those who have no access to the banking system, found that their nest-eggs and/or comfort money for exigencies and emergencies was in one swipe converted to ZERO. A government is supposed to be sensitive to the needs of its people but in one fell stroke it reduced a large proportion of the population temporarily to beggars. Many could not take the shock because  of their lack of understanding of what was happening leading to increased stress and maybe this led to some of the 100 odd deaths that occurred due to Demonetisation at that time. 

The much touted feature of Demonetisation wiping out black money has been turned on its head since the many 'mules' used by the black money holders to exchange at the authorised limit of Rs. 4000 and then Rs. 2000 nullified that premise. The little that was unearthed in raids around the country by tax authorities or thrown away is nowhere close to the estimated level of black money in the country. Arun Jaitley has been making a lot of noise, reminiscent of the old saying that an empty tin with little in it can make a lot of din, related to these minuscule amounts that have been recovered along with the amount of some Rs. 4,600 crores in the new black money declaration scheme that recently closed. Like where is Rs. 4,00,000 crores of black money stashed abroad as mentioned above and assume an equivalent if not reduced figure of Rs. 2,00,000 crores of black money within the country. Compare this with the Rs. 400-600 crore seized here which includes the assumed tax to be paid on the amounts deposited under the black money declaration scheme. These are just drops in the bucket. But these may not come in easily since they will be contested and possibly end up in our law courts making the tax revenue stream uncertain. But for Jaitley even these amounts are important in a revenue context since he is following the principle that every drop is important to fill the revenue bucket. 

Consider what happened in the first few days after Nov 10th, 2016 when the commercial banks opened their doors to transactions. It was found that the Jan Dhan zero balance accounts that the government had got the people to open, who had no access to the banking system before, showed a remarkable spurt in deposits. In the 'heady' days then, when the RBI was looking at drafting its one circular per day as per quota bound to the government, realised that a lot of the surplus cash and funds that were with people was finding its way to these Jan Dhan accounts. This money was being deposited by the long time retainer or acquaintance or someone the account holder ran into the street or just simply unknown persons into these accounts for and on behalf of the rich persons. Some Jan Dhan account holders found that without their knowledge they had become richer by tens of Lakhs of Rupees overnight. Obviously this was a convenience arrangement and the account holder would benefit to some extent but not to the full amount put in his account. By end of 2016, the deposits in the Jan Dhan accounts had risen to Rs. 75,000 crores since Nov 10th, 2016, though the RBI tried to combat this trend by limiting the amount to Rs. 50,000 that you could deposit into these accounts and also imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs. 10,000 per time. Inspite of that the fact remains that to a large extent other than the 'mule' system that was used to exchange black money to white, the black money holders utilised the Jan Dhan accounts to convert their money to white is a fact. Though Jaitley claims that every Jan Dhan account with large deposits will be investigated and taxed, it remains in the realm of possibility and with chances to get mired in the labyrinth of our legal system. Thus you will see that Demonetisation that was done to catch black money was turned on its head by those having black money to convert their black money to white at no cost to them purely because of the ineptness and lack of imagination in this government. Even this mess was attempted to give credit to the government by none other than the noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati who is supposed to have the right ear of PM Modi on economic matters who said that this was an example of re-distribution of wealth from the rich to the poor and needs to be lauded! 

Now let us look at the insensitiveness of this people's government that was elected with a thunderous majority by the people in 2014. There has not been a single word of commiseration or sympathy to some 100 odd persons who died in the queues to exchange the demonetised notes from either the Prime Minister or his lackeys down the line. Not only that the stories of the impact on the lives of people and on the economy because of Demonetisation that has come out has been mostly from the urban areas and the organised sector. The data on the unorganised sector coming in on a six monthly basis was not reflected whenever the impact of Demonetisation was assessed. Neither were job losses counted in this sector because of the severe crunch on cash faced after Nov 2016. When the data came in it was seen that not only had many businesses in the small and tiny sector had to close down but across the sector there were massive job losses. This was over and above the impact that we had seen in the micro finance sector, farmers unable to sell their produce in mandi's because of no money with the wholesale buyers etc. etc. Thus a popular government that came riding on the promise of creating jobs, but took away jobs and left livelihoods from the people because of the single measure of Demonetisation, leaving them helpless in the face of rising inflation. This was the irresponsibility of this government in showing a complete lack of sensitivity towards the common people in implementing a government policy measure. The problem at the lowest level of the pyramid that of daily and casual labour who were thrown out of jobs from small business, building contracts, microbusinesses etc. because of Demonetisation would have been much worse but for the government MNREGA scheme which showed peaking in enrolment over the quarter immediately after Nov 2016. If this safety net had not been there the misery unleashed by Demonetisation would have been all the more. 

Moving forward the government has been claiming that the formal economy has been expanded. No doubt there is merit in that logic but at what cost? With the expansion of the formal economy as claimed it is proper to expect a growth in tax revenues. But then only time will tell if the inventive Indian will find a way to beat the new system. The government thereafter in July 2017 steamrolled and put in place the GST in its attempt to have more and more transactions into the formal economy. It is a well intentioned measure but has had its own problems at the time of implementation which has been more the haste in putting in place the new system leaving again the trade and businesses in needless stress.

We will now look at the manner in which the Demonetisation measure was projected, define the measure of success on these indices and how the government has now changed track. This is just to highlight the fact that the government in its intent to deliver on its stated objectives falters and tries to change the narrative and in that process taking on more than what it can handle and ultimately ties itself inextricably  in knots in the manner of a kitten with a ball of wool. The Demonetisation objectives were to catch black money within India as much as possible, to hit out at corruption, combat counterfeiting and make it difficult for counterfeiters to copy the new notes and make the funds available with terrorists including Red terror worthless. As outlined above, the black money escaped from the government's hands like water put in a bucket full of holes. Corruption remained unaffected since new funds asked for came in the new currency and the old currency stocks with the corrupt went the escape route for black money. As for counterfeiting within 2 months of the new currency launch of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes, fake notes were seized within the country believed to be made in Pakistan and then in Bangladesh. As for the Red and terrorist funding where these funds were being extorted it came in the new currency while their existing horde was legalised like the black money as above. So but for touching the proverbial tip of the iceberg on all counts nothing much was achieved by Demonetisation except to putting a brake on the economy and making people's lives difficult. 

This required the new narrative of the cashless economy, the squeezing of availability of high denomination currency and the continued fight against corruption. With the unending lines in front of commercial banks to either exchange or withdraw money, the government wanted to take advantage of this people distress and push them towards a cashless economy. With no choice the people had to play ball and cashless transactions peaked in Dec 2016 but since then they have tapered off to pre-Demonetisation levels. The problems on this initiative are many but bad network connectivity and problems related to geographical coverage are main. As for squeezing high denomination notes, the government has no need to do this deliberately since the new Rs. 2000 note has not become popular with the people but it is highly regarded by black money holders and those who have the habit of stashing away currency. Earlier and closer to just after Nov 2016 whenever you went to draw money from ATM's the predominance was of the new Rs. 2000 note but you will notice lately that this incidence has reduced. The reason is that banks in some areas of the country are finding that the new Rs. 2000 note is not being circulated! No prizes for guesses here as to who is capturing these notes for safekeeping. So the high denomination currency squeeze is happening on its own without the government having to interfere with it. Both cashless operation and a lesser dependency on cash transactions will happen at a slower pace than what Jaitley wants. It is not like closing one tap and opening another which case is the way Jaitley thinks it is since he does not factor the diversity of the country both in economic terms and geographical spread. People need time to change and be comfortable with the transition to the new system and no amount of incentivisation or pushing from the government will make this happen. 

Concluding in overall terms the strategy to expand the direct tax base in the country though conceptually good was fallacious in terms of implementation and marked by an unseemly haste that resulted in multiple intermediate objectives colliding with one another and where the master responsible for the transition should have had the finesse of a conductor leading a symphony orchestra, we had the hamhanded playing of the leader of a wedding band in Delhi. This irresponsible attitude of the present government has cost many lives, resulted in snuffing out fledgling and small businesses, thrown out lakhs from jobs and has almost brought this country to a shuddering halt. One hopes that the government will learn that - There Is Always A Better Way.

                              Saubhagya Scheme Free Power Through Solar Power

Narendra Modi's Saubhagya scheme to provide free power to the poor is clearly a populist measure. Though the intent is to be lauded, it would have been better if solar power was provided to the families which would have given an additional fillip to the solar power industry. Though the scheme offers solar power packs in remote areas where regular electricity is yet to reach, it would have been better if this was done across the board. With solar power prices at a record low, the industry in India would have been propelled to greater savings in cost by supplying under this Saubhagya scheme thus putting it on a firmer footing and in turn generated more jobs which is the crying need of the day. Thus it would have given a boost to the Make In India program. The surplus power situation which is driving the Saubhagya scheme could have been kept in reserve for industry when it picks up from the current slump. 

        Media Turning Out Old Hash in Dawood Extortion & Hyderabad Arab Marriage Stories

The newspapers lately carried 2 pieces of news. The first about a racket in Hyderabad where marriages were being arranged of impoverished Muslim girls to aged Arabs from the Gulf. The second was upon the arrest of Iqbal Kaskar, Dawood's brother, it was reported that the Don continued to be involved in extortion rackets in Mumbai & other places in India! Is this all new? 

Marriages of poor Muslim girls to old Arabs have been happening for the last 50 years or more in Hyderabad. An organised syndicate has been thriving on this and the agents sell these marriages as a bonanza to the targeted girl's family and extract their pound of flesh from the dowry that the Arabs give.  Girls were sold like this for as little as Rs. 50,000 sometime in the past. Wherever the marriages have progressed to the stage where the poor girl is taken to the Gulf, it is fine because she becomes the financial mainstay for the rest of the family in Hyderabad. She herself may be suffering sexual attacks from other male members of the Arab's family which is fair game in that part of the world since her husband is old and cannot or is unwilling to object.  Additionally she is treated as a menial considering that wives from India are looked down upon in the Gulf in a kind of a throwback to our own caste system. She is thus treated as a servant after the male members get tired of her but the woman now is unable to open her mouth for fear that the money train may stop and her family back home be forced back into penury. Sometimes the old Arab does not take his local bride with him back to the Gulf but abandons her in Hyderabad. This becomes a bigger problem for the girl and family since apart from the dowry that the Arab had paid, there is no other money coming on a regular basis. The police and government in Hyderabad have been well aware of this kind of racket with the police customarily looking the other way for a consideration. So the present racket is not new, it has been existing in the past and maybe the new version is being played out now.

As for the Don's activities in Mumbai the business community mostly the real estate and the diamond industry can spell out the details of the extortion attempts they face. This was very apparent even from the time of the Bombay blasts when Abu Salem was ruling the roost on behalf of Dawood which mantle then fell on others ultimately now resting on Iqbal Kaskar's shoulders. The police from the beginning when Dawood was in India were aware of the rackets but preferred to play possum since the moolah train was made accessible to them and they could draw upon it comfortably and in leisure. The media is after taking out these stories from their archives, dusting it out and then putting the same old story with new characters and a different plot now. Proof that Dawood continues on his muscle-flexing and extortion rackets is there again in today's, 24th Sept, papers where activist, Damania claims he received a threatening call from the Dawood gang.

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