On DeMo, yet another goal post change -Governance Now

On DeMo, yet another goal post change

FM counts benefits which happen to be different from original objectives

GN Bureau | June 1, 2017

#Finance Minister #Finance Ministry #Arun Jaitley #Narendra Modi #Demonetisation #Economy

Arun Jaitley, union minister for finance, corporate affairs and defence, addressing a press conference on the achievements of the ministry of finance during 3 years of NDA government

Some think there is only one way to score a bull’s eye, by hitting the bull’s eye. Then there are creative souls, who first shoot, and then draw a bull’s eye around the mark.

When it was announced, demonetisation was supposed to counter (a) black money, (b) terrorism, and (c) counterfeits. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 Address to the Nation does not mention the word ‘cashless’.

Addressing the press on the completion of three years of the NDA government, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday counted three benefits of demonetisation: (a) increase in cashless transactions, (b) increase in the taxpayer base, and (c) the message that it’s not safe to have cash transactions.

Of course, the two benefits on the tax aspect (b and c) are part of the drive towards eliminating unaccounted money – but they could’ve been achieved without subjecting the 1.2 billion people to untold suffering. The first benefit, drive towards cashless transaction, is welcome, but again it did not need such grave push, and it is already petering out too.

Indeed, demonetisation is blamed for a slowing down of the economy: Wednesday’s CSO announcement put the GDP growth in the quarter ending in March 2017 at 6.1 – lowest in this government’s term. This is something many economists and opposition leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh had feared.

However, the government is not ready to believe. Jaitley told the press that some slowdown was visible even prior demonetisation. Since GDP growth rate in the previous quarter was a healthy 7.0, it would need some torture of selective data to find that slowdown – not to mention the explanation of the fact that this slowdown has been spoken of only now and not before.

Comments

Other News

Bird walks for youngsters to be held across India

Early Bird and the Rainmatter Foundation have announced five bird walks, led by naturalists, across India on June 10. The walks, to be held in Agartala, Dehradun, Mysore, Panjim, and Tirupati early in the morning, are part of the Rainmatter Foundation’s Walking Lightly campaign, being observed throug

India celebrates Environment Day with thrust on Mission LiFE

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India organized the World Environment Day on Monday with a thrust on Mission LiFE. The concept of LiFE, i.e., Lifestyle for Environment was introduced by prime minister Narendra Modi at the World Leaders` Summit in Glasgow at COP26, when

Green banking: an emerging way forward

Green Banking is an initiative taken by the banks to promote environment-friendly practices and reduce carbon footprint of their activities. Green financing (a part of ‘Green Banking’) is a broad term that can refer to a financial investment flowing into sustainable development projects and ini

GST revenue in May clocks 12% y-o-y growth

The gross Good & Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in the month of May, 2023 is ₹1,57,090 crore of which CGST is ₹28,411 crore, SGST is ₹35,828 crore, IGST is ₹81,363 crore (including ₹41,772 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹11,489 crore (including ₹1,057 crore collecte

Need local solutions to climate change: P Velrasu of BMC

Climate change rising temperature and sea levels are posing new risks for coastal cities. With population growth rate of 1%- 2% in India every year, Mumbai too is growing and is population will double from 20 million to 40 million in the coming years. The city is also at the risk of rising sea level. It ne

Civil Services 2022 Top 20 felicitated

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday interacted with and felicitated the first 20 All India Toppers of IAS/ Civil Services Exam 20