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Posted on 25 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
There is a fundamental difference between investigative adventurism and professional investigation.
Investigative adventurism involves casting the net too wide including people with no mens rea or even having a common intention to commit an offence, relying on presumptions and surmises with no legally admissible evidence. Adventurism leads to media leaks, ruins reputations and eventually invites strictures and not convictions. In the process, the targets are ruined because of harassment, loss of reputation and financial costs. It costs people their career.
Professional investigation targets the real accused on the basis of actual and admissible evidences. It rules out fanciful presumptions. There is no personal malice or corruption. It targets the guilty and protects the innocent. It secures convictions and furthers public interest.
One of the reasons why our conviction rates are poor is that adventurism and megalomania overtakes our investigators and professionalism takes a back seat.
Sitting thousands of kilometers away, when I read the list of potential targets in the ICICI case, the thought that crossed my mind was again the same – Instead of focusing primarily on the target, is a journey to nowhere (or everywhere) being undertaken? If we include the entire who’s who of the Banking Industry – with or without evidence – what cause are we serving or actually hurting.
My advice to our investigators – Follow the advice of Arjun in the Mahabharat – Just concentrate on the bulls eye.
Posted on 21 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
Every General Election has its own script. The script is dictated by the prevailing political environment in the country. The nature of the political battle for 2019 is unfolding itself. India’s opposition has a two-fold strategy, firstly, negative anti-Modi agenda and secondly, to combine as many political groups together so as to take the best advantage of the electoral arithmetic.
Anti-Modi campaign
A negative campaign works when there is a strong anti-incumbency either against the Government or against the leader. Anti-incumbency is a process by which the Government of the day loses an election and the opposition wins by default. Unhappy people vote a Government out. When there is a comfort level with the Government and its leader, a set of more satisfied people vote a Government back.
It is obvious that the level of satisfaction with Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi is very high. If that weren’t so, where was the need for multiple disparate forces to come together against him? It is only the fear of his popularity and comeback that is bringing them together. The Prime Minister remains by far the most popular, decisive and dynamic leader of the present set of politicians. His integrity, emphasis on ethics, decisiveness, growth-oriented politics, has made aspirational India to accept him. He has singularly decimated all caste-based parties and dynastic political groups in 2014. The opposition is making Prime Minister Modi’s continuation in office as a key political issue. We in BJP welcome this agenda being set by the opposition.
The Sham Unity Arithmetic
The Kolkata rally organized by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee was significant. On the surface, it was an anti-Modi rally. It indeed was. More significantly it was also a non-Rahul Gandhi rally. The opposition politics has thrown up four desirous Prime Ministers wishing to challenge Prime Minister Modi. Besides Mamata Banerjee, the other three – Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati and KCR were significantly absent in Kolkata. 2/3rd of those on stage were those who in the past have worked with the BJP. Some octogenarians reached Kolkata to satisfy their late-life ambitions. There was not a single speech reflecting the positive idea which the leaders proposed for the future. Negativism was writ large in their approach. The strategy of each of the four contenders is clear.
The Didi of West Bengal wants a combination of the political adventurists to back her. From the ultra-adventurist Chief Minister of Delhi to the discards of the BJP, there are not too many takers for her. The presence of the National Conference, RJD and DMK leaders was a ritual. Their State alliance interests necessitate them to be more with the Congress. The Behanji of Uttar Pradesh has a clear strategy – play it hard to get. She believes that in India, only caste matters. She is clear that this is her only opportunity. KCR is presently the exponent of a non-Congress, non-BJP front. Is there a space for any such front today? It remains a doubtful proposition. The individual strategy of each one of the above appears to be the same. Replace Modi and get on to the Driver’s seat. The Congress, if it chooses, can at best be the pillion rider.
In the Kolkata rally, negativism was the flavor. The former US Vice-President Spiro Agnew had said in 1970 in the context of the United States –
“We have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of Negativism. They have formed their own 4H club the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”
Every word of this was true in Kolkata.
Except in Uttar Pradesh and to a lesser extent Karnataka, the arithmetical combination does not appear to be any significantly different from 2014. The whole emphasis in these two States is on caste coalitions. Vote transferability in such caste coalitions is not so simple. Local chemistries react differently. Many of these combinations end up as theoretical propositions.
The BJP and NDA have to be prepared for a battle for a 50% vote in the direct fight contest. Many States will still witness triangular contests. If a second term for Prime Minister Modi is the issue, it is advantage BJP. The election will be more presidential. If negativism is the political campaign in an aspirational nation, it won’t work. If arithmetic is the only hope, the Modi chemistry can prevail over it. People are more intelligent than what many politicians think about them. They never choose chaos as an option. What has been presented by the opposition is a post-election leadership battle, no common programme, no policy and a disastrous memory of their administrative disabilities. Experimented, tried and failed ideas only scare voters. They convey no appeal. People want a Five Year Government, not a six month one.
Epilogue
Amongst the early elections that I participated in as a student, was the 1971 General Elections. We in the Opposition had formed a ‘Grand Alliance’ the English Translation of “Mahagathbandhan”. We had powerful leaders and a head-start in the media. Additionally, the Congress had split into two. One of the tallest journalists of that generation, Frank Moraes wrote a daily political column against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Curiously, it was also titled ‘Myth and Reality’. The results were announced, India rejected negativism. The India of 2019 has moved way ahead of India of 1971. Aspirational society never commit a collective suicide. They do not suffer from a Lemming Syndrome.
Will 2019 be a replica of 1971? It is Modi vs. an unviable and an unworkable short-lived combination. OR is it Modi vs. Chaos.
Posted on 17 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
In the run-up to the 2014 General Elections there were many who never expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to power with an absolute majority.
There are some in the political system who thought that they were born to rule. There are those who had managed to penetrate into positions of influence irrespective of the Government in power. Some who were part of the ideological left and the ultra-left obviously found the new Government wholly unacceptable. Hence emerged a new class of Compulsive Contrarians. The Contrarians believed that this Government could do no good. Every act of it must be opposed. They picked holes in the proposal to give 10% reservation in education and public jobs to the poor, compelling me to comment in the Lok Sabha that this was the first illustration in history where the Communists were obstructing a step taken to support the poor. Steps taken against black money were described as “Tax Terrorism”. The virtues of cash which was a source of black money and fuelled corruption were discovered after demonetisation. AADHAAR which became an instrument for saving money to ensure that it is fruitfully spent for the poor was questioned on the ground of violating personal liberty. Slogans which championed the breaking-up of this country into pieces was defended as free speech. The successful surgical strikes conducted by the Army were questioned either as a routine or as a dubious process.
The Compulsive Contrarians had no qualms about manufacturing falsehood. They could concoct arguments even if they went against the general interest of the country. They could masquerade corruption as crusade. They could adopt double standards whenever it suited them. Let me now illustrate these with specific examples:
The Justice Loya case
Every fact alleged in the public space by the Compulsive Contrarians was manufactured. The Judge died a natural death due to a cardiac stroke. The only persons with him at the time of the stroke and in hospital were his fellow Judges. No outsiders had any contact, and yet on friendly websites, social media campaigns, fake PILs, wild insinuations were made. The cause of the death was sought to be altered into a conspiracy for murder. The campaign went for months altogether. The Compulsive Contrarians included a retired Judge of the Supreme Court and a former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. They had no hesitation in allowing themselves to support falsehood without factual verification. Eventually, a three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court dismissed every claim made in the case. The judgment was delivered on behalf of the Bench by Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud. He was criticized on the social media. What if the same had been delivered by Chief Justice Dipak Misra? Another vicious campaign of calumny would have been launched against him by the Compulsive Contrarians.
The Rafale case
The purchase of Rafale Combat Aircraft is yet another case of concocted falsehood by the Compulsive Contrarians. This is a deal where Prime Minister Modi should be credited with saving thousands of crores of the country. The Congress had compromised national security by delaying the deal for over a decade. Fake and concocted figures were put into the public domain as the purchase price of the Combat Aircrafts. The differences between a plain aircraft as a flying instrument and a Weaponised Aircraft was sought to be obliterated. Every fact was brought before the Supreme Court. The Court conclusively rejected the challenge. The need for purchase, the quality of the Aircraft, the pricing, the process, and the offset issues were all gone into and upheld by the Court. The Contrarians were proved to be liars and yet instead of stopping the campaign of falsehood, they started relying on an alleged dictational / typographical error to prove the judgment was wrong. Lobbyists and career nationalists joined the Compulsive Contrarians. Though the Court verdict should have been final, the Contrarians did not stop. They again raised it in Parliament. They conclusively lost the debate in the Parliament and yet the falsehood has not stopped.
The CBI issue
Anyone with even a nodding acquaintance of the state-of-affairs in Lutyen’s Delhi would know that a few individuals in our investigative agencies had over the last few years become a law unto themselves. Whispers of what was going on were not uncommon. It is the duty of the sovereign government to ensure the cleaning-up of each of the investigative agencies. The Government was only concerned with their accountability and integrity. The Contrarians chose to side with the questionable. Autonomy is always a great sounding idea. In the absence of accountability, an investigating agency can become a monstrosity. Let any informed person honestly ask himself a question – “post the two year fixed tenure functioning following the judgment in Vineet Narain’s case and the statutory amendments that followed, has the quality of the Heads of the Central investigative agencies improved or deteriorated?” Two views may be difficult as an answer.
Today the Contrarians have launched an attack on the Committee headed by the Prime Minister which transferred the CBI Chief. The only question before the Committee was whether there was any material available as a ground to transfer the CBI head? Prima facie, the CVC Report did constitute adequate and relevant material. The Committee is not an appellate forum against the CVC findings. If the same had to be challenged, it can only be challenged in Court. The Committee could not have ignored the CVC report.
The nominated Judge – Member of the Committee was attacked for a non-existent conflict of interest and the person who had a real conflict of interest and should have refrained from attending the meeting became the accuser. The leader of the largest single party in the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was a petitioner before the Supreme Court claiming that the CBI Chief was an honest man and had been wrongly removed for mala-fide reasons and through a faulty process. Having been a campaigner for the ousted chief, he obviously could not have sat in judgment over his innocence or guilt in the Committee. His was a text book case of bias. Any honorable man should have recused himself. His dissent as a biased man is non-est. Yet the conflicted man accuses one of the most honorable Judges of a conflict of interest.
On Judges
A Press Conference addressed by four Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court over a year ago has done more damage to India’s judicial institutions than many would have envisaged. It brought Judges into public gaze as factionalized and battling for their own turf space. There are a set of extra-adventurist lawyers practising in the highest Court, as in every other Courts. Their strategy is to over-awe the Court. They threaten to walk out of cases, they move impeachment motions in their Political capacity to flex their muscles and clout, they make public comments on Judges. They use media to intimidate the Court. Having involved themselves in an ugly public conduct, Judges find themselves unable to exercise jurisdiction to stop such conduct by others. The last Chief Justice was attacked by the Compulsive Contrarians. A precedent has now been legitimised. His successors will find it difficult to escape similar treatment. The threat to the independence of judiciary can also come from the public pressures that these Contrarians exert on Judges.
Collegium proceedings and conversations in the past two years have been faithfully reported in one particular newspaper (a Compulsive Contrarian), thereby underscoring the nexus. If the Law Minister invokes the seniority principle as he did last year in the case of one appointment to the Supreme Court, the Contrarians call it an attack on the independence of judiciary. When the Contrarians raised the issue of inter-se seniority, as had happened recently, it becomes their crusade for independence of the institution. Amazing double standards.
The Reserve Bank of India debate
The RBI has served this country extremely well. It has extremely important functions to perform. There are many instances of the past where Government and RBI have had different opinions.
The Government in recent months have strongly felt that certain sectors of the economy needed credit and liquidity support. Squeezing out both would eventually hurt this sector as also hurt growth. Recent data relating to some of those sectors has supported the position taken by the Government. Every stakeholder in the market was in agreement with the Government position but the Contrarians deflected the credit and liquidity issue to the issue of autonomy. After all the Government was only addressing the autonomous RBI and asking it to resolve the issues which lay in its domain.
I can go on and on with these examples. Free speech and the right to dissent are critical components of a democracy but falsehood, subversion and institutional destruction are not. The right to campaign for stifling funds to the economy in the name of the autonomy, justifying corruption in the name of institutional independence, attacking Judges when the verdict is not favourable, manufacturing facts as in the case of Judge Loya’s death and the Rafale deal are indicative of the mindset of the Compulsive Contrarians.
Nations are built by those with positive mindsets and a national vigor, not by the Compulsive Contrarians. Didn’t left-liberals find fault with the various actions that Gandhiji took during the freedom movement? Weakening a Sovereign Elected Government and strengthening the unelectable is only a subversion of democracy.
Posted on 15 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
India’s post-Independence economic study can be divided into two parts with 1991 as a cut-off line. The regulated economy restricted India’s potential for forty years. From 1951-52 till 1990-91, India’s GDP grew by 4.2% per annum. The per capita income grew by 2% each year. The Consumer Price Index for almost a two-decade period from 1969-70 till 1990-91 rose by 8.2%. The fiscal deficit of the Central Government from 1980-81 till 1990-91 for a ten-year period was an average of 6.5%. Our external debt was 28.7% of the GDP at the end of the pre-liberalisation period.
The liberalisation of the economy not only improved the GDP growth rates but also brought millions of people out of poverty and improved the quality of life of a large number of Indians.
Post-liberalisation, it is important to analyse the GDP growth and the inflation data relatable to various governments under various Prime Ministers. The data reads as under:
|
Period |
GDP Growth | Inflation | Prime Minister |
| 1991-92 to 1995-96 | 5.1 | 10.2 | P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| 1996-97 to 1997-98 | 5.8 | 8.1 | H. D. Deve Gowda / I. K. Gujral |
| 1998-99 to 2003-04 | 5.9 | 5.4 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 2004-05 to 2008-09 | 6.9 | 5.7 | Manmohan Singh |
| 2009-10 to 2013-14 | 6.7 | 10.1 | Manmohan Singh |
| 2014-15 to 2018-19 | 7.3 | 4.6 | Narendra Modi |
While analyzing the above chart, two important facts have to be kept in mind. Firstly, that the average GDP growth of 7.3% during the five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a much larger base than that of his predecessors. The growth rates are higher. A higher growth rate on a larger base has a multiplier effect. Secondly, during the five years of UPA-2, inflation varied between 12.2% and 8.4%. In 2013-14, the UPA Government left behind an annual inflation figure of 9.4%. It took time for this figure to be moderated. In the five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the inflation figure has been 5.9%, 4.9%, 4.5%, 3.6% and 3.9%. Once it moderated in the first year of the present NDA Government, it has consistently been kept in check. The Modi Government fixed a Statutory Inflation Target of 4% +/- 2% as range of inflation.
When Prime Minister Modi came to power, India was the tenth largest economy in GDP terms in the world. Presently, the fifth, sixth and seventh economies namely United Kingdom, France and India are within a very narrow range. A marginal fluctuation of currency values alters the size of the economies. India, of course, is projected to grow next year at 7.5%. This will conclusively ensure that India, at the end of the next Financial Year, could possibly be the fifth largest economy in the world.
Needless to say, India’s fiscal discipline during the past five years has been amongst the best as compared to any preceding period. The McKinsey Institute reports that the size of India’s middle-class is growing very fast from 14% in 2005 to 29% in 2015. It is estimated to go all the way to 44% in 2025.
With the kind of transfer of resources to rural India which have been made in the past five years, a huge aspirational class is emerging even in the rural areas.
This is an indication of what the social profile, purchasing power and the quality of life of Indians are going to have, in the decades to come. To ensure that this happens as projected, it is a pre-requisite that India needs a decisive leadership, consistency in policy direction and a strong and stable government. An unworkable alliance with maverick leadership whose longevity is a suspect can never achieve this.
India today is the fastest-growing major economy in the world. Still we are not satisfied with a 7 to 7.5% growth rate. We are increasingly becoming impatient and want to break the 8% barrier. Ease of Doing Business Rankings for 5 years have improved from 142nd position to 77th position. We have now to get into the first 50, if not still lower.
Who should be India’s Prime Minister, if India were to achieve this? Should he/she be constrained by his/her rival aspirants who have reluctantly supported him/her out of mere dislike for a common opponent or does India need a Prime Minister with a clear mandate as in 2014. Only such a Prime Minister can deliver growth and satisfy the Nation’s aspirations.
Posted on 11 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
Reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections
The Constitutional Amendment Bill to provide reservation to the economically weaker sections has been passed by both Houses of Parliament. It will soon become a part of India’s Constitution. Caste in India was considered as a key determinant of either social or historical oppression as in the case of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or a determinant of social and educational backwardness as in the case of the Other Backward Classes. Poverty, however, is a secular criteria. It cuts across communities and religions. Poverty as a criteria for a carve out does not in any way contravene the basic structure of the Constitution. The original Constitution (unamended) in its Preamble mentions Equality of Opportunity and Justice for all whether political, social or economic to be ensured by the State. The Preamble expresses the intent of the Constitution framers. It is an aid to the interpretation of what constitutes the basic structure. Nor does the carve out amongst the general non-reserved categories for 10 percent of their poor in any way get restricted by the 50 percent reservation embargo placed by the Supreme Court. In the Indra Sawhney case, the Supreme Court had categorically mentioned that 50 percent criteria applies only to the caste based reservations envisaged in Article 16(4) of the Constitution.
Nonetheless, the Prime Minister’s decision to force an agenda for poverty based reservation is the single greatest recognition/ concern for poor across the general categories and the need to eliminate poverty. The principal opposition party showed only lip sympathy for the measure and grudgingly supported it while poking holes in the same.
The Pro-Poor Economic Measure
The Modi Government has promised a house for every rural poor. Currently about 50 lakh houses per year in rural India are being built. By 2022, every poor family will have a roof on its head. Most Indian villages have been connected by a pucca road. State funding has been increased from Rs.9000 crores annually (pre UPA) to Rs.27,000 crores during NDA. Each village has been electrified and all willing dwelling households, including those who cannot afford an electricity connection, have been provided with the same. Rural sanitation has moved up from 39% to over 98%. The mode of cooking has been altered from coal and wood to cooking gas. The poor are being provided the same under the Ujjawala Scheme. The MGNREGA expenditure has crossed Rs.60,000 crores, almost twice of what was being spent by the UPA.
The universal health scheme – Ayushman Bharat – is targeted at 40% of India’s population who are at the lowest point of the economic ladder. Each one of them can get hospital treatment free with the coverage upto Rs.5 lakhs annually per family.
For the farmers, besides doubling the expenditure on interest subvention, completing the 99 unfinished irrigation schemes, giving the farmer a crop insurance scheme, the Government has expressed its intention to help the farmer by fixing the Minimum Support Price for the notified crops at 50% higher than cost. The farmers, of course, need greater support and the Government is committed to the same.
I have already, in a recent article, highlighted the pro-labour steps that the Government has taken in terms of improving/ liberalising the provisions of gratuity, bonus, minimum wage increase, ESI, social sector pension, Anganwadis and Asha workers etc. (read blog dated 9.1.2019).
Middle class
For the India’s middle class, in the last five years, not a single tax has been increased. Indirect taxes have been merged into one in the GST. The GST is the single most important ‘consumer friendly measure’ in India. Taxes of most commodities have been brought down. Commodities have been made cheaper, even though the revenue sacrificed now after the rates revision, would be close to rupees one lakh crore. Similarly, in every Budget, the lower end of the tax payers have got relief both directly and indirectly. Even though the taxation slab is Rs.2.5 lakh, those with an earning upto Rs.3 lakh need not pay any tax. A Rs.40,000/- standard deduction has been given to all employees. Similarly, all investments in housing, insurance and other saving instruments, have been increased in the last four years. The cost of this to the exchequer is almost Rs.97,000 crores per annum. This is the first time that during the five year tenure of a Government a Rs.2 lakh crore annual tax rebate for both direct and indirect taxes is given to the middle class tax payer without a single tax being increased.
The subsidy for housing for the middle class has been liberalised. Inflation during the five year tenure has been kept between 3-4% as against 10.4% during UPA-II. The Government staff has benefitted from speedy implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, the Services have benefitted from the implementation of the OROP, the pensioners have benefitted by the New Pension Scheme. The Government contribution being increased from 10% to 14% and greater part of rebate being given to the entire amount of 60% which can be withdrawn at the time of superannuation.
There is a method for economically empowering the poor. Their purchasing power has improved. This helps trade and businesses which impacts positively on the economy. This is the first five year tenure of a Government where India has consistently remained the fastest growing economy in the world. This indeed helps every Indian – the poor, the neo-middle class, the middle class and, of course, the large business community.
Posted on 09 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The Left affiliated Trade Unions have organised a Bharat Bandh on the 8th & 9th January, 2019. Are there any real issues before them or is it a part of the strategy of the Left political organisations to organise a symbolic unrest to ensure that they are not wiped out from the political map of India. The strength of the Left Parties has been significantly eroded in West Bengal and Tripura. In the recent past, the political environment in Kerala is also building against them.
The NDA Government has been in power for a little less than five years. A Group of Ministers had been constituted to continuously maintain a dialogue with the trade unions. Some trade unions have been more forthcoming in the dialogue and they succeeded in persuading the Government from time to time to announce a series of measures in favour of the workers.
It is, therefore, important to analyse the number of steps taken by the NDA Government headed by Shri Narendra Modi to help the workers of India.
- Bonus
(a) The calculation ceiling for bonus has been increased from Rs.3500/- to Rs.7,000/- per month or the minimum wages of the scheduled industry as fixed by the appropriate Government, whichever is higher.
(b) Eligibility ceiling for bonus has been increased from Rs.10,000/- per month to Rs.21,000/- per month.
- Maternity
The maternity leave benefit has been increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children.
- Gratuity
Gratuity payment ceiling for a worker has been enhanced from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh.
- Minimum wage
There has been a significant increase in the minimum wage entitlement for both the unskilled agricultural labour and for the construction labour in the three categories of areas (A) (B) and (C). The range of increase on minimum wage is as under:
- Agriculture: Unskilled
(Area-A) increased from Rs.226 to Rs.333
(Area-B) increased from Rs.206 to Rs.303
(Area-C) increased from Rs.204 to Rs.300
- Building Construction/ Construction/ Maintenance of Roads
Unskilled (Area-A) increased from Rs.368 to Rs.523
(Area-B) increased from Rs.307 to Rs.437
(Area-C) increased from Rs.246 to Rs.350
- ESI
The eligibility coverage ceiling has been increased from Rs.15,000/- per month to Rs.21,000/- per month. There is a benefit of two dispensaries for worker – one at the working place and one at the native place.
- Pension
A minimum guaranteed pension has been fixed at Rs.1000/- per month.
- Insurance
In the event of death of a worker while in service, the minimum assured insurance of Rs.2.5 lakhs and a maximum benefit of Rs.6 lakhs under EDLI scheme of EPFO has been ensured.
- Anganwadi and Asha workers
For all categories of Anganwadi and Asha workers, there has been a substantial raise of honorarium by the Central Government. A worker now gets Rs.4500/- per month instead of Rs.3000/-. The minimum rate has been raised from Rs.2250/- to Rs.3500/-. The helper’s honorarium has been increased from Rs.1500/- to Rs.2200/-. Amongst Asha workers, the honorarium has been increased from Rs.1000/- to Rs.2000/-. Additionally, an insurance of Rs.2 lakhs coverage in the event of a death and Rs.1 lakhs in case of disability of permanent nature has been provided at no cost.
- Seventh Pay Commission
The Seventh Pay Commission significantly raised the salary and perquisites of Government employees. Previous Government had taken years before implementing the same. The present Government implemented the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission immediately and additionally improved upon certain terms relating to perquisites. The recommendations have also been improved in the case of Armed Forces and other para military and security forces. The OROP for retired employees of the Defence Forces, which was pending for over four decades, was resolved at the earliest.
- Government Pension
Under the National Pension System, Government employees contributed 10% and the Government contributed 10% which formed the corpus for investment under which pension would be paid to Government servants post-retirement. The Government has increased its own share from 10% to 14%. Thus making the initial contribution for the corpus to be 24% of the salary per month. Additionally, the 60% cumulative amount that a retired employee can withdraw has been entirely exempted from income-tax payment. An option has been given to the employee to indicate whether he wants his corpus of pension to be invested in Government bonds or some of it to be invested in the market. The choice is now entirely of the employee.
Besides this, several procedural changes have been made in various laws and regulations relating to trade unions. Under the Trade Unions Act, a Union has to be registered within 45 days of application otherwise it will be entitled to a deemed registration.
Provident Fund Offices are being opened in several revenue districts of the country. The employee has now been given the facility of digital life certificate being submitted from any common service centre. AADHAAR can be used to update the details. The Wage Code and the Social Security Code are now being consolidated and made more rationale.
Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the worker today ranks very high in the waterfall of payments as against the earlier regime.
No Government in the past has taken, within a short period, so many continuous pro-worker decisions in order to ensure that the advantage of a better quality of life is ensured to them as a result of the economic development of the country. Even though procedural simplification have been done in several legislations in order to cut down the paper work, the Government has desisted from taking any decision which hurts the interest of the employees.
Notwithstanding the above, if the Left Trade Unions insist on politicising the Trade Union Movement to manufacture a protest on non-existent issues, it is for the workmen in the country to seriously analyse what the present Government has done for them and compare it with the relatively blank record of several earlier Governments.
Posted on 06 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
The idea of having a Unique Identity Number (UID) for every citizen of India was conceived by Shri Nandan Nilekani during the UPA Government. Unquestionably, the credit goes to him for conceiving, initiating and implementing the idea. Aadhaar, however, was non-statutory. There was no law governing it. This triggered a serious legal challenge. The UPA itself was a divided house. While Shri Nandan Nilekani pushed hard, a senior Minister blocked it. The Prime Minister was indecisive. The enrolment continued, though at a very moderate pace.
The BJP, while in Opposition, had some reservations particularly with regard to non-citizens being enrolled. Immediately after the formation of the Government, a presentation was made to the Hon’ble Prime Minister by Shri Nandan Nilekani where I was also present.
At the conclusion of the presentation, the Prime Minister consulted others present and, decisive, as he is, immediately took the decision to go ahead with the idea of Aadhaar.
The legal hurdle
The UPA legislation was inadequate. It provided for the methodology by which the UID would be issued. It did not contain adequate safeguards on privacy. It did not mention for which purpose the UID would be used. The NDA Government re-examined the issue and the legislation was completely changed. The pith and substance of the new law was that Government spends a large part of the public resources in subsidising the poor. This subsidy became an indefinite amount which is given to an unidentified section of the people. There are many claimants who don’t exist. Several others are not entitled to it. There are several cases of duplication and thus the unique identity based on biometrics would eliminate these aberrations and relief would travel only to the intended. This was the thrust of the new law. After the new law was passed in Parliament it was challenged before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the whole concept of unique identity and rejected the challenge that it violated the Right to Privacy. It held that Aadhaar meets the concept of constitutional trust, limited government and good governance and empowers marginalised section of society. It also introduced several safeguards to ensure that it is not misused. The Judgement of the Supreme Court added balance to the concept of AADHAAR.
The Performance
The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, was passed by the Parliament on 16th March, 2016. It was notified on 26th March, 2016. Several other Sections of the Act which had initially not been notified, were notified on 12th September, 2016.
In the last 28 months over 122 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued. 99% of the adult population of India above the age of 18 stands covered.
Many State support schemes, including some by the DBT mechanism have been linked to Aadhaar. 22.80 crore of PAHAL and Ujjwala beneficiaries are given cooking gas subsidies through DBT in their Aadhaar linked bank accounts . 58.24 crore ration card holders stand linked. 10.33 crore MGNREGA card holders get wage payment through DBT in their bank accounts. So do the 1.93 crore beneficiaries and other beneficiaries of the national social assistance programme. The Income Tax Department has already linked 21 crore PAN card holders with their Aadhaar numbers.
2579 crore authentications have been undertaken till date. Everyday 2.7 crore authentications are done. UIDAI has the capacity of 10 crore transactions to be authenticated per day.
The Government estimates that Rs. 90,000 crore have been saved in the last few years till March, 2018 by the use of the Aadhaar. Several duplicate beneficiaries, non-existent beneficiaries and fake beneficiaries have been eliminated. The Digital Dividend Report prepared by the World Bank estimates that India can save Rs. 77,000 crore every year by the use of Aadhaar. The savings through Aadhaar can fund three schemes of the size of Ayushman Bharat.
In most schemes the direct benefit transfer takes place to the beneficiaries’ 63.52 crore bank accounts that had been linked with the unique identity as on 15-12-2018. The total number of subsidy transactions through Aadhaar are almost about 425 crore. The total amount of subsidy transferred through Aadhaar now equals Rs. 169,868 crores. With the elimination of middlemen the benefits go directly to the bank accounts. This is a unique technology implemented only in India. The monies saved through Aadhaar is money fruitfully employed for the poor elsewhere.
Aadhaar is a game changer. Its evolution tells the same story. The UPA, because of its contradictions and indecision remained half-hearted about Aadhaar. Instead of taking credit for it, Congress lawyers challenged it in Court and appeared as the anti-technology, anti-Aadhaar faces. A decisive Prime Minister made it possible.
Two individuals deserve a special credit. Shri Nandan Nilekani, who started it and Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, who subsequently provided it with the direction and expansion. He masterminded the Government strategy to repel the legal challenge.
Posted on 01 January, 2019, No Comments Comments admin
HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Aayushman Bharat Scheme, which was launched on 23rd September, 2018 has completed 100 days. These 100 days have witnessed the most significant steps in improving healthcare for the poor ever since independence.
The state of Healthcare in India
India’s healthcare system was always lacking. Besides inadequacy of healthcare institutions proportionate to India’s population, there were many other challenges. Besides important State supported institutions, the private institutions have now been established mainly around large metropolitan towns or Tier-I or Tier-II cities. Many public and private hospitals are of global quality. Their charges, if we compare to the cost elsewhere in the world, are extremely competitive, but for a large part of India’s population, these are considered beyond reach. The Government employees and those in other public institutions are generally supported by governmental healthcare programmes. Those in the armed forces are supported by the healthcare provided in those institutions. Some private sector corporates have a healthcare provision as part of their service conditions. Still, 62.58% of the Indian population has to pay their healthcare bills themselves. Most find it unaffordable. Low healthcare insurance penetration, low financial protection and high out of pocket expenses pose major challenges.
The Ayushman coverage
Born out of this necessity is the Government’s scheme of Aayushman Bharat/Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY). The Yojana was launched on 23rd September, 2018. It has completed 100 days today. This Yojana covers 10.74 crore poor families, i.e., over 50 crore people. 40% of India’s population is covered by this scheme. These weaker sections can avail of a medical scheme which covers hospitalisation charges spread over 1350 hospitalisation packages for a sum of Rs. 5 lakh per year for the whole family. Thus, if any member of the family requires to be hospitalised, his charges upto Rs. 5 lakh will be picked up by the financial management under Aayushman Bharat. The scheme is paperless and cashless.
Launch of the scheme and its implementation has been relatively problem free.
Post Ayushman Bharat situation
In the first 100 days, 6.85 lakh patients have been provided hospital treatment. 5.1 lakh claims have availed of the scheme, for which payment has been released. This averages 5000 claims per day for the first 100 days. No patient have had to pay a single Rupee. Thus, once awareness of the scheme increases, It is anticipated that in the next few years, almost 1 crore plus families will benefit each year. The total number of hospitals covered by this scheme are both Government hospitals and private hospitals presently numbering 16,000 and increasing steadily. More than 50% of the implementing hospitals are in the private sector. Thus, a patient can enroll himself in empanelled hospital and get himself hospitalised upto charges of Rs. 5 lakh in a totally cashless and paperless manner.
This scheme is a game changer in healthcare. Many people from the weaker sections avoided hospital treatment in order to avoid the burden of an unbearable payment. Today 40% of India’s poorest are assured of a treatment in a hospital at the cost of public expenditure. This scheme also supports the hospitals as an institution by ensuring patients for them. This will lead to more hospitals (especially in Tier II and III cities), and those with better equipment. Health sector jobs are set to increase. PMJAY will help create an accountable health system because beneficiary feedback is an integral part of its implementation.
From infrastructure creation, to rural roads, to building houses for the poor, providing them with electricity, toilets, gas connection and now healthcare has only been possible after initiatives taken by the Prime Minister and the Government have resulted in a higher tax base and greater revenue collection.
Posted on 31 December, 2018, No Comments Comments admin
The Special CBI Judge, Mumbai, who deals with CBI cases has acquitted all accused in Sohrabudin case. More relevant than the Order of the Acquittal is the observation of the Judge that in the investigation, from the very beginning, Investigating Agency did not investigate the case professionally in order to find out the truth but to divert it towards certain political persons.
The Congress President Sh. Rahul Gandhi on the day of the judgement raised the issue “that nobody killed Sohrabudin”. It would have been more appropriate if he had asked the right question, namely who killed Sohrabudin case investigation, he would have got the right answer.
On 27th September 2013, as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, I had written to then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh a letter detailing the politicization of the investigation in the Sohrabudin, Tulsi Prajapati, Ishrat Jahan, Rajinder Rathore and the Haren Pandya cases. The copy of the letter is enclosed. Every word of what I have said in the letter, over the next five years, have proven to be true. This is an irrefutable evidence of what the congress did to our investigative agencies.
Those who have recently shown a belated concern for institutional independence should seriously introspect as to what they did to the CBI when they were in power.
Posted on 24 December, 2018, No Comments Comments admin
The Goods and Services Tax was implemented w.e.f. 1st July, 2017. It hasn’t completed eighteen months of implementation as yet. The GST has been at the receiving end of a lot of ill-informed and motivated criticism. What has been its real performance?
The Pre-GST regime
India had the worst indirect tax system anywhere in the world. Both the Centre and the State Government were entitled to levy a set of taxes. There were seventeen taxes levied. An entrepreneur, therefore, faced seventeen inspectors, seventeen returns and seventeen assessments. The rate of taxation were exorbitantly high. The standard rate of VAT and excise was 14.5% and 12.5% respectively. To this could be added the CST and the cascading effect of tax on tax. The standard rate thus became 31% on a large number of commodities. The assessees had only two options – either to pay a high rate of tax or evade it. Tax evasion was prevalent to a large extent. India comprised of multiple markets. Each State was a separate market because the rate of tax could be different. Interstate sales became inherently inefficient because trucks had to wait for hours and days at the State borders.
The GST impact on 1st July, 2017
From the date of its implementation, the GST changed the situation radically. All seventeen taxes were combined into one. The whole of India became one market. The interstate barriers disappeared. Entry into the cities became open with abolition of the entry tax. States were charging an entertainment tax ranging from 35% to 110%. This came down radically. 235 items were being charged at either 31% tax or even higher. All except 10 such items were brought down immediately to 28%. The 10 such items were brought down to even a lower rate i.e.18%. Multiple slabs were fixed transiently in order to ensure the tax of no commodity goes up radically. This contained the inflation impact. Most aam aadmi items were placed in the zero or 5% tax bracket. Returns became online; assessments will be online; multiple inspectors had disappeared. The States were guaranteed that for the first five years they will be ensured a 14% annual revenue increase.
The revenue trends
A frequently made comment has been that the revenue positon has been disappointing. The comment is based on an inadequate understanding of both the targets and the revenue increase. The targets set for the State in the GST regime is unprecedently high. Even though GST commenced on 1st July, 2017, the base year for revenue increase has been calculated is 2015-16. For each year a 14% increase is guaranteed. Thus, even when 18 months have not been finished since the launch of GST, on this day every State has a target of improving its revenue with three 14% increases compounded annually over the base year of 2015-16. This is close to a 50% being reached in the second year itself. It is almost an unachievable target. Yet six States have already achieved it, another seven are within a striking distance of achieving it and only eighteen are still more than 10% away from achieving it. By the third, fourth and fifth year, as in the case of VAT, the ability to increase revenues and closing the gap will substantially increase. Those States which do not achieve the target of 14% are paid out of the compensation cess. The requirement of compensation cess in the second year is expected to be much lower than the first year. This increase in the tax collection has to be factored keeping in mind the significant rate reduction which has taken place in the GST. The reduction in monetary terms amounts to about Rs.80000 crores per year. Notwithstanding the substantial tax reduction, the GST collection in the first six months of this year has shown a significant improvement as compared to the first year. The average monthly tax collected in the first year was Rs.89700 crore as compared to Rs.97100 crore per month in the second year.
The rate rationalisation
We were faced with a situation with a large number of commodities being taxed heavily in the pre-GST regime. The Congress legacy of indirect tax was a 31% tax. We transiently put them in the 28% slab. As the revenues kept increasing, we started bringing down the rates. Most of the commodities have seen tax reduced. Today, barring tobacco products, luxury vehicles, molasses, air-conditioners, aerated water, large TVs, and dish washers, all 28 items have been transferred from 28% slab to 18% and 12% slab. Only cement and auto parts are items of common use which remain in 28% slab. Our next priority will be to transfer cement into a lower slab. All other building materials have already been transferred from 28% to 18% and 12%. The sun is setting on the 28% slab.
Of the 1216 commodities which are used, broadly 183 are taxed at zero rate, 308 at 5%, 178 at 12% and 517 at 18%. The 28% slab is now a dying slab. Restaurants are being levied a tax compounded under the composition of turnover at 5%. Assessees with turnover upto Rs.20 lakhs are exempted from tax payment. Assessees upto Rs.1 crore turnover can get a composition by paying 1% tax. The composition scheme for small service tax assessees is under consideration. Cinema tickets tax between 35% to 110% has been brought down to 12% and 18%. The GST has helped in controlling inflation. Evasion has also come down.
The net effect
Lower rate of taxes, increased tax base, higher collections, easy for trade and least interface in assessments with a significant part of the tax rationalisation over, the growth percentage in the years to come will increase. The transformation has been done over a period of 18 months. Any abrupt transformation could have been either detrimental to revenue or to trade.
The GST Council
The GST Council has had 31 meetings. It is India’s first experiment with the federal institution. It is a body that has behaved with utmost responsibility. Several thousand decisions, including legislative drafting, rules drafting, notifications, fixing initial rates and rationalising rates have all been taken unanimously with consensus. The political noise outside is inconsistent with the harmony inside the Council.
A personal thought with regard to the future road map
With the GST transformation completed, we are close to completing the first set of rate of rationalisation i.e. phasing out the 28% slab except in luxury and sin goods. A future road map could well be to work towards a single standard rate instead of two standard rates of 12% and 18%. It could be a rate at some mid-point between the two. Obviously, this will take some reasonable time when the tax will rise significantly. The country should eventually have a GST which will have only slabs of zero, 5% and standard rate with luxury and sin goods as an exception.
Epilogue
Those who oppressed India with a 31% indirect tax and consistently belittled the GST must seriously introspect. Irresponsible politics and irresponsible economics is only a race to the bottom.