White Paper on Black Money
THE Finance Minister Pranabda in the Parliament announced recently that the government will shortly bring out a white paper on black money - the obvious reason is prompting by the movement of Baba Ramdev.
BLACK money is a curse for the country, all of us know. We also know that black money is present everywhere, from foreign banks to every household that matters, excluding those who are not in a position to pay income tax as their income is less than taxable income. But even they are responsible for the generation of black money as they don't seek a genuine receipt for their purchase and the cunning shopkeeper turns his profits into black money. There are various estimates of the amount of money that, if declared, could bring prosperity to the country.
ACCORDING to the government, hardly about 2.5% Indians pay income tax while there are many more who must pay. What is the way out? Here I am talking only about the means that can be adopted to reduce the generation of black money, knowing well that the menace may never be eradicated.
FIRST, as suggested by Baba Ramdev, we must do away with high denomination currency notes. Such money can be stashed in large sums easily and does not require much space. Even in US only small currency notes are released. As a corollary, all transactions above Rs. 100 must be carried out through bank accounts by credit or debit cards.
SECOND, as we know that major source of generation of black money are politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, strict vigil and rules must be framed, enacted and enforced with fast track courts to regulate their behavior. For example, either there should be state funding of elections or the limit of election expense at all levels should be raised to pragmatic levels. For bureaucracy and business laws must demand complete transparency and accountability.
THIRD, but most important, mechanism has to be developed to evolve the character of honesty. It is not possible without fare wages for respective jobs without overburdening a single person at the cost of his/her health, dignity and pride. If corruption is the result of scarcity, it is a lesser crime; if it is caused by greed, it is a severe crime that must be handled severely.
THE irony is that the people who are the major players in the spread of black money can not be expected to bring and/or enforce these laws. So?
BLACK money is a curse for the country, all of us know. We also know that black money is present everywhere, from foreign banks to every household that matters, excluding those who are not in a position to pay income tax as their income is less than taxable income. But even they are responsible for the generation of black money as they don't seek a genuine receipt for their purchase and the cunning shopkeeper turns his profits into black money. There are various estimates of the amount of money that, if declared, could bring prosperity to the country.
ACCORDING to the government, hardly about 2.5% Indians pay income tax while there are many more who must pay. What is the way out? Here I am talking only about the means that can be adopted to reduce the generation of black money, knowing well that the menace may never be eradicated.
FIRST, as suggested by Baba Ramdev, we must do away with high denomination currency notes. Such money can be stashed in large sums easily and does not require much space. Even in US only small currency notes are released. As a corollary, all transactions above Rs. 100 must be carried out through bank accounts by credit or debit cards.
SECOND, as we know that major source of generation of black money are politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, strict vigil and rules must be framed, enacted and enforced with fast track courts to regulate their behavior. For example, either there should be state funding of elections or the limit of election expense at all levels should be raised to pragmatic levels. For bureaucracy and business laws must demand complete transparency and accountability.
THIRD, but most important, mechanism has to be developed to evolve the character of honesty. It is not possible without fare wages for respective jobs without overburdening a single person at the cost of his/her health, dignity and pride. If corruption is the result of scarcity, it is a lesser crime; if it is caused by greed, it is a severe crime that must be handled severely.
THE irony is that the people who are the major players in the spread of black money can not be expected to bring and/or enforce these laws. So?
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