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

New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific strategy enters a new phase

India appears to be investing fresh dynamism in its Indo-Pacific strategy. At the time when the US, under president Donald Trump, has adopted a conciliatory approach towards China and has changed the name of America’s Indo-Pacific Command to just Pacific Command, India has quietly moved towards con

CAG flags major fiscal lapses in Maharashtra

Maharashtra`s fiscal management has come under sharp scrutiny after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its State Finances Audit Report for 2024-25, flagged significant budgetary inefficiencies, accounting irregularities, understatement of key fiscal indicators and widespread governanc

The health sector research we are not doing

Some neglect is loud. This kind is quiet. It sits in research never commissioned, data never collected, questions never asked. In South Asia, that quiet has let the region’s worst health problems stay understudied, underfunded, and out of sight of those who could act.

Study flags accessibility and last-mile challenges on Mumbai Metro Aqua Line

Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Aqua Line), the city`s first fully underground metro corridor and one of its largest public transport investments, represents a major engineering achievement and has been widely welcomed by commuters. However, the overall commuter experience continues to be constrained by accessibili

Centre intensifies preparedness as El Niño threat looms

Amid uncertainty in the southwest monsoon due to the potential impact of El Niño, the government is addressing the situation with comprehensive preparedness, a clear strategy, and strong ground-level action. While challenges remain, the entire system has been activated in advance and is working proa

India is crossing a climate threshold

On June 28, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 41.3°C, four degrees above the seasonal normal. But the “feels like” temperature, which factors in humidity, showed more than 51°C. What the body experienced was very different from what the thermometer recorded. India`