VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 256 Date: 12.11.2018
Contents:
1. The MSME Sector Loan Measure Of Rs. 1 Crore in 59 Mins. Is Yet Another Gimmick
2. Goa's New Casino Policy Will Be The State's Road To Perdition
3. The 'Living Dead' From Demonetisation and GST
4. Maneka Gandhi Should Mind Her Own Business
The MSME Sector Loan Measure Of Rs. 1 Crore in 59 Mins. Is Yet Another Gimmick
The MSME sector has been reeling as a consequence of the cash crunch arising from the two measures - Demonetisation and GST - but lately was again in the news with the PM announcing a credit facility of Rs. 1 crore to them that would be sanctioned within 59 minutes! This is again a mirage-like initiative with no meaning since you see it but yet you see it not because it is not there. This scheme just gives you a principle clearance in the form of a letter by a private agency who have no accountability and you still have to go through the process of clearance of loan through the Bank which will take close to 6 weeks. Moreover the MSME sector accounts for more than 16% of Bank NPA's as of now and none of the Banks are overly keen to add to this debt for fear of it becoming unpayable. So this measure is another pataka from Narendra Modi that fizzles out with no bang for the buck. Maybe it will be still proved to work, for which numbers are needed to justify, with crony BJP MSME's who will borrow knowing full well that they will not be called to repay the loans. We have seen this kind of thing earlier with the initiative of mobile payments where the use of cash was intended to be limited. It did not work either with the Indian people showing that they prefer to deal with cash. Currently with State elections coming up there is a tremendous demand for cash being sought from the Banks which they are finding it difficult to deal with. And where is this extra cash demand likely to go to? If the recent seizure of hawala cash of Rs. 7.5 crores in Hyderabad is any indicator, then it will be to fund elections.
Goa's New Casino Policy Will Be The State's Road To Perdition
The news emerging that there could be land based casinos without them having to be located in 5-star hotels and with a plan to have many such in an enclave either at Mopa or near Panjim under the new casino policy is disturbing news. Casinos per se is bad news for any society and then this proposal to deliberately convert Goa into a Sin City is shocking. With Manohar Parrikar having come onto the streets against casinos in the early days and then justifying later that the earnings from the casinos would be be used to fund Provedaria assistance, it seems the whole of Goa will be made equivalent of Provedaria inmates. Thereafter sometime back when questioned about the casinos, their location and their numbers increasing over time on the river, he mumbled something about how times change and how ministers earlier were happy with Ambassador cars but nowadays ask for SUV's, which comment no one understood and it went clear over everyone's head. With the new policy likely to recommend casino enclaves as the central plank for the State's economic policy we will be seeing the end of Goa as we know it now. Another dagger among many others would have been planted straight into the heart of Goa's ethos and way of life, killing it altogether. Vivek Menezes in one of his recent columns has succinctly summarised how if Goa follows the road taken by Las Vegas and lately Macau then the destination is nothing but perdition where gambling, drugs, prostitution and money laundering will rule the roost.
The 'Living Dead' From Demonetisation and GST
Emperor Ashoka it is said when walking through the dead at the end of the Kalinga battle and upon seeing the carnage had forsaken war and taken to religion, propagating the teachings of Lord Buddha. Our latter day leaders like Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi, minnows when compared to Ashoka, have been walking through the 'living dead' in India that have been created in the wake of Demonetisation and the GST fiascos and continue to congratulate themselves on these measures ignoring or little realising the havoc that they had unleashed on the people of India which impact continues to this day.
Maneka Gandhi Should Mind Her Own Business
Maneka Gandhi is going completely overboard on the killing of the T1 tigress Avni in Maharashtra recently. The facts are that this tigress killed 13 human beings and was categorised as a maneater. Maneaters have to be put down is what every tiger manual says. Thus the issue being made on the killing the tigress is a bit too much. Gandhi needs to understand that humans come first and then animals, even if they be tigers. Instead of getting obsessed and seeking an enquiry into the killing of the tigress Maneka Gandhi could well be advised to set u a high level panel to go into the issue of child rape in the country. That way she would be doing a service to the girl child and aligning herself with the Ministry that she holds in this government at the Centre. Maneka Gandhi she should keep her animal love as a hobby and not get overly involved in it. She needs all her attention for the Ministry of Women & Child Welfare that she handles. When she has called for the resignation of the Maharashtra Forest Minister over the tigress killing, he has responded that with women & children dying of malnutrition in India, will Maneka Gandhi also resign? In the Thane belt in Maharashtra among tribals malnutrition is endemic with the area and known for starvation deaths also. So it is best that she puts her nose down and gets to work within her Ministry.
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