28th Nov, 2016 - LET'S FORM A WELL INFORMED OPINION ON DEMONETISATION
Whilst at Starbucks, writing, earlier in the morning today, I happened to bump into a prominent and quite a celebrated journalist. I couldn’t help resist the urge to walk upto her and try understand her take or views on demonetisation (for she’d recently written an article on the same in a prestigious daily).
To my bewilderment, I was taken aback and stumped by what she said – “I have been making enquiries and asking around, but opinions are mixed, so I’m yet undecided.” This coming from a lady who’d written some 2000 words’ article on ill effects of demonetisation. Surprising isn’t it, to know the so-called experts who write on national issues are themselves deprived of facts and knowledge.
Anyways, my point is it's not about what other's feel, moreover asking around is diluting one's own decision or being mistrusting of one's own instincts and judgemental prowess; the question rather is what one's own independent, unadulterated opinion is, for that's when it's an unbiased and liberated answer. As for the common man, the general consensus is still one that's unfortunately largely divided; but that’s only natural given the expanse of our nation and its population count. It’d would only make sense to observe, gather facts, data, knowledge, and form an unbiased view of the situation by yourself.
As for my personal take on the subject at hand - "As they say, the night is darkest just before the dawn. The difficulties we’re now faced with will only herald us to a new sun, a new day, a day bright and effusive, when the light is devoid of corruption, red tape, and dirty politics, where we can, as fellow countrymen, bathe and bask in the clear sunlight; not as you and I, but as “us”, and as equals...with black money out the fray and out of reckoning. Let’s simply work with the government. Just in case if it lets us down, we know we can vote it out, but for now, its exigent we handhold our PM for what he’s doing for us; whilst shepherding and steering the nation to waters calm, placid and resplendent, to an India more surreal, to an India that we’re now not, but can surely be, in years to be. If anything, we are surely walking the road to progress. We need but ask ourselves the question instead of asking around and adding to the chaos. It will only help us if form a well informed opinion on everything that's transpiring around us. - Article by ABD
A Times of India journalist wrote an article for Sunday Times with misleading facts, aggravating the nation. "A GENERATION AWAKENS" requests you not be misled with inappropriate information. We all have a right to opinion, however, please don't allow biased journalists and reporters to shape your perspectives and perceptions. Please read on and see how they play with our minds, fashioning us into believing what they want us to believe
ORIGINAL ARTICLE - TOI article by Amit Varmal, stating Modi has taken a great leap backwards )
Mr. Varmal, I’m compelled to concede, is that one abysmal simile have you drawn, the reference to Chairman Mao. Especially the point where you say “It was hailed as a necessary step by a strong leader”! Either you’re attempting at citing that our PM isn’t a leader who could be deemed strong or maybe the demonetisation move was one which wasn’t necessary. Either ways, irrespective of the scenario, you’ve gravely erred Mr. Reporter. For one – siphoning black money off the system, albeit temporarily (according to you and your wild guess), I suppose, and I’m sure the better informed or the unbiased class will second my opinion, wasn’t for sure a step unnecessary; lest you’re sitting on heaps of illegitimate money yourself. As for “strong”, I need not iterate or wax eloquent of how “strong” or “lame” our former PMs have been. Remember a certain Manmohan Singh? A name that hardly rings a bell, right? Here’s some links you may want to refer to as to what the global consensus is pertaining to Modi’s “STRONG GESTURE”
World Lawmakers praising Modi's demonetisation move...the list goes on. Anyone can Google.
Guess, they’re all fools to be praising the fool that Modi is, or maybe just that they lack your knowledge, wisdom, and foresight! But of course, as you said, quoting your words back at you, locusts are integral to an ecosystem’s functioning. Guess so, we can’t do without you then, Mr. Locust.
Returning attention back to your article, you’ve quoted – “Mao's infamous Great Leap Forward included plenty of edicts besides the death warrant to sparrows. They all stemmed from the delusion that the leader of a country could redesign an entire society to conform to a master plan. The 20th century is full of cautionary tales that warn against such delusion, such as the communism of Mao and Stalin, and the fascism of Hitler. Yet, we do not learn”. Neither is the move fascist nor communist, by any extent of imagination; both are terms with connotations way severe and extreme. So allow me please, Mr. Ace Reporter, if that’s what you are, to throw some light on your “observations”. The demonetisation move is but to curb black money, redesign and revamp but the economy and not the society; for as long as we have locusts on the loose, can the “Society” be redesigned or decontaminated, nay, that’s not possible. There’s a serious lapse in your understanding of what demonetisation is all about - Please douse your head in a bucket of water, stir yourself out your mal-informed delusion and misunderstanding that the demonetisation move is one that’s been devised, as you naively have gone on record to quote, to redesign the society. What NONSENSE! Why assume what you don’t understand and why delusionaly make pompous proclamations? Demonetisation is but a move to come down on hoarders of black money, who chose to part not with their “money” despite the government’s self-disclosure scheme. Were we not given ample time and forewarnings to it?
If what you’d written thus far wasn’t spineless enough, you choose to call the PM and the reigning Government’s actions a “folly” - Narendra Modi's demonetisation of old 1000 and 500 rupee notes is one such folly, a blunder in every imaginable way. It doesn't achieve its intended purpose. And its unintended consequences could devastate the lives of the poor, and cripple our economy. Who are you to condemn the move as being a folly? Why not allow the nation the liberty to decide if it’s a folly or not? Why impose your personal views on the nation? Who gave you the right to do make a call as this? I mean, how do you know what’s the end-goal? Has it been discussed with you? Do you know what’s the next card the PM has up his sleeve? How do you know what the intended purpose is? For you anyways believe, my misinformed “friend” that Modi purposes to redesign the society, which obviously is not the case – and redesign with what? By demonetising 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes! How does that redesign the society? Please throw some light for are we an unlearned class. As for crippling the economy, sure yes, that can possibly turn out as being true. The more than 2lac crore plus worth black money thus far recovered can surely catapult the economy, cripple may in fact be an understatement. I give you that! And yes, the government definitely doesn’t give two hoots to the lives of poor getting devastated. Please shed some more on light on the term “devastation” if possible, for devastation is too extreme a word to substitute what for the reality is – and the reality being the poor, as well as the middle class are for sure facing certain technical difficulties (there’s no denying that), but surely none of the two classed are close to getting “DEVASTATED”! You have a taste for theatricality and exaggeration and hyperbole, is it?
The prevalent difficulties are but a part and parcel as also a misfortunate by-product of the previous governments’ failure to act towards eradicating this social evil of black money, but so be it, if that’s what it takes to reform our economy, and as we walk towards a new dawn, as a citizen I’m fine with standing in long ATM queues to hail the advent of a better India for generations yonder. Had an earlier government undertaken a move on similar lines, a brave move that is, the difficulties we’re now facing may have been drastically cut down to a smaller effect. And given the expansive geography of our nation, seamless implementation of no momentous change can be possible. That’s plain math, and common sense, isn’t it? However, what here needs to be noted and appreciated is that Modi’s dared to take a step in the right direction, without caring once not about the dire implications may it on his vote banks have. I’m sure, Manmohan or a Rahul or a Sonia or a Kejri are way too feeble and beneath this man’s league.
Thereafter, my funny reporter friend, and again I call you a reporter, you’ve gone ahead with enlisting reasons as to why the move is a “folly”. Let’s look at your reasons before I can bare your “folly” and shallow outlook - One, as per a recent estimate, only 6% of black money is kept in the form of cash.Two, new 2000 and 500 rupee notes are on the way , and a black market for conversion from old to new is already thriving. Three, as various economists have pointed out, this attacks the stock and not the flow of black money. To strike at black money and corruption, you need to strike at their root causes. So are you trying to imply, since only a meagre percentage of black money is stacked as cash, it should be allowed to go unchecked and therefore overlooked, just because you don’t wish to queue outside an ATM or just because you suppose it’s not important? Man, aren’t you witty? You claim that a new market is thriving already, so is it not your moral responsibility to rather “report” such activities, aid the government & support it in its endeavour (that’s what a responsible citizen or a reporter would do), rather than being a pansy pessimist, crying out, spilling tears, making a noise for no apparent “solid” reason? And isn’t that what a reporter’s job is, after all, to be socially responsible? But again, it is still debatable if you are a reporter indeed. Thirdly, arriving at your final vague argument, let me ask you this, what harm is coming our way, if demonetisation is attacking the stocks and not the flow of black money, and I say “if” for I have every reason to doubt your deductions, readings and baseless claims. Are you saying the government, being a tad wiser than you and I, hasn’t thought of this already? To strike at black money and corruption, you need to strike at their root causes – Thank you for the grand counsel for I’m sure the government and Modi had not considered or accounted for this! And for your fourth reason. Uh? There’s no fourth reason. Why write “four” when you could produce or imagine rather, only but three. I get it, you have issues with numbers. Yet you have the nerve to speak of economics.
And then you blabber for a while in your “article”, for a considerable while in fact, about the government failing to meet its election promises, and you resort to using jargons as “Corruption and black money are a consequence of big government”, “set of individuals having discretionary powers over the actions of others” , “institutional changes”. Must I allude, nice try at sounding intelligent, but didn’t quite make sense, just as your other “arguments” or I’m just a fool? Have you been, off late, spending your evenings in Rahul Gandhi’s august company. The two of you would make for an elite communion. And, if you may be kind enough to please suggest the institutional changes have you in mind? Please help the government. Why not enlist the institutional changes you suppose may have been more revolutionary than what the government has done, or is trying to do.
Oh and then, you do arrive at a fourth reason, which according to you is the one more compelling. Let’s have a look at it - The fourth and most compelling reason is this: these aren't really high-denomination notes. Modi has probably not bought anything from a store in 15 years, so he imagines that the poor do not use these notes. Well, consider that the last time demonetisation took place in 1978, a 1,000 rupee note, in terms of purchasing power, could buy goods worth Rs 12,000 today . Rich people did hoard their black money with it, but the poor did not use them. A 500 rupee note today, by contrast, is the equivalent of a 50 rupee note in 1978. These notes constitute 85% of the money in circulation, as opposed to 0.6 in 1978. Over 90% of the transactions in India are cash transactions, and more than 90% of the cash in India is not black money. If these aren’t high denomination notes, then what are? 20 rupee notes or are you using a custom made currency? Maybe, USD! Thereafter, again for a while, I can see, have you some efforts taken to draw more comparisons, and aren’t they senseless equally, if not a tad more, than the one preceding as the Mao simile. Although, for once, you got your facts slightly correct that 500 and 1000 rupee notes sum upto 85% of the overall notes in circulation (Just FYI, 86% being the precise figure as per an RBI survey. At-least use Wikipedia correctly), but please tell the nation this, are you suggesting, to spare our citizens inconvenience of queuing outside ATMs, the govt. should have demonetised 100 rupee notes instead? What good would have come off that, kindly reflect. Pray, also answer this, how many times does an average Indian furnish a 500 or a 1000 rupee note in exchange for day-to-say expenses. Tell me, travelling to work, paying the rickshaw-wallah, paying for refreshments, returning home, purchasing veggies, etc. how often or how many 500 rupee notes do you extract out your wallet. And does your rickshaw-wallah, bus conductor, canteen cashier, general store cashier, missal pav wallah, even accept or tender you change for an 80 rupee fare, bill or purchase? Are you saying, the poor wind up at Starbucks, CCD and other plush places wielding 500 and 1000 rupee notes. The aforementioned notes may be in circulation, agreed, but how often does an average Indian brandish them? Let’s talk of commoners, and the poor, since it you who chose to speak of us commoners. How many 500 rupee notes would you find tucked in a farmer’s money-purse? Talking of inconvenience to the poor and the middle class, we’re content with our 100 rupee notes.
Thereafter, to secure sympathy votes for your article, you croon about “rural suffering” a clichéd technique, this is what you write - According to an RBI survey from March this year, only 53% of Indians have bank accounts. How do you think the other 600 million store their savings? Over 300 million people have no government ID, and there are crores of people stuck without a way to convert their hard-earned cash. Even if they did have accounts, there are reports that the government will take six months to print enough replacement notes. Every day the death toll goes up, but rural suffering and anger cannot be captured by bare numbers. Now, Mr. Reporter, according to you, 47% of Indians do not have bank accounts. Just some stats for you – 41% of India’s population is under the age of 18, basically minors – Now why would they require a bank account for? 64% of India is rural population; and of the rural population, 48% is constituted by women, primarily homemakers. Now please, tell me, how many wives and ladies in rural India opt for an independent bank account? As also, how many families in rural India have an individual bank account for individual family members? So your research in terms of the percentage of Indians not having bank accounts has some gaping loopholes, and needs be reworked. Does that not propel the percentage by leaps and bounds, whilst focusing the radar primarily on the working sector. Does that not close the gap, sir? SO if at all, there’s still people who are employed and yet do not have a bank account to their names, may not be at more than a 20%, in worst case scenario. So shall we, for the sake of these 20% people, do away with demonetisation. Just FYI, 19.52 crore bank accounts were opened across Aug-Dec 2014 under Jan Dhan Yojana. Again, that’s Modi who accomplished the feat, not Manmohan. Also, why would you say crores are “STUCK” to convert their hard earned cash. For one, everyone’s cash is hard earned, so we can do away with the emotional crooning “hard earned”, secondly the deadline we have is until the 31st of Dec, 2016, so who is stuck, if you know what stuck means, thirdly, how much cash can one possibly be carrying on one’s person, or have stacked at home, in form of 500 and 1000 rupees to be as “STUCK” as you’re making it out. All it takes is to collect the notes, and walk to one’s nearest bank branch. There’d be a queue outside the bank, so just wait till it’s one’s turn. All it takes is but one trip and one day of braving the queue. No one is as stuck as you claim. It’s really a simple process. Don’t make it look unnecessarily complicated. And aren’t the banks working weekends? If six months is what it takes for replacement, and I doubt if that’s true (as your any other claim), so be it, it’s a transitional phase, which country doesn’t go through it, its required more so in a country which has experienced as many corrupt erstwhile governments as we’ve had. Would it make you, or any of us any happier if Manmohan were to take the reins back in his hands, or that moron, uneducated Rahul were to become the next PM. Deep down, we all know what Modi’s done and is doing hasn’t been done before, or a Kejri or anyone can possibly ever do; it’s just that reporters and newspapers personal vendettas which they choose to put before the common interest. Speaking of death tolls, how many times have you shown your concern when citizens, innocent and otherwise, have lost their lives thanks to terror attacks, or for that matter the ongoing violence in J&K. But give you an opportunity, and you’d do whatever it takes to cry foul when it comes to one man who’s made life miserable for the corrupt, criminals, law-breakers and the tax evaders. Why not use your column, since you have the reach in your favour, to appeal our fellow countrymen to allow senior citizens to bypass the long queues outside ATMs and banks. Is it Modi’s fault or the fault that shallow bystander, shallow as you, who didn’t allow a senior citizen to cut the line, and make it to the counter before he could. The congress rein, 2004-2014, witnessed more than 50,000 instances of farmer suicides. Were they not lives not worth reporting. Or were that just not as sensational as taking a dig on Modi? Since Modi has taken over, farmer suicides’ rate per (1,00,000 total population) has gone down by 63% as compared to what it once were.
AS for temporary hassles like the retinue of citizens teeming outside ATMs to withdraw cash or standing for hours outside a ban branch to exchange currency, aren’t these elements provisional and transitional. Why make a hue and cry, without attaining complete knowledge and understanding of a move as large scale, delicate and revolutionary as the one in question, and try besmirching the PM and his government? Why not write about the incessant and relentless interim arrangements the government is implementing to ease and streamline the process – as the facility to exchange cash at fuel-pumps, effecting mobile ATMs at hospitals, exclusive queues for senior citizens in banks and ATMs, enabling PoS transactions by RuPay Debit Cards (more than 300 million RuPay cards in circulation as of date; that’s 300 million citizens’ woes addressed). Moreover, and more importantly, not a single stone pelting incident has been recorded in the valley ever since demonetisation has come into effect, and the youth in J&K are seen returning back to schools. Does this count for nothing, considering the state of tumult J&K has been in, for months in succession. Is this not an achievement, short term though, but an achievement still? Why undermine things as important as the money recovered already? Why undermine the surge in cashless transactions and more people taking to technology? Why undermine the intention behind the move?
As a reporter, you should know better than to write misleading, misinformed and delusional articles as the one you’ve written. If you can’t work towards improving and educating the society, then why not just rid yourself from your quill. I hope you may reply to this, for if you do, AGA has a truckload of stats we haven’t utilised yet to wake you from your reverie. If unhappy, write your suggestions and feedback to the government, don’t vote for them the next time round, for that’s your right, luckily for us we're a democracy, but to defame a PM still serving his term, isn’t is cheap and self-deprecating?
As they say, the night is darkest just before the dawn. The difficulties we’re now faced with will only herald us to a new sun, a new day, a day bright and effusive, when the light is devoid of corruption, red tape, and dirty politics, where we bathe and bask in the clear sunlight not as you and I, but as “us”, as equals...With no Black Money in picture. Let’s simply work with the government. Just in case if it lets us down, we know we can vote it out, but let’s handhold our PM for what he’s doing for us; whilst shepherding and steering the nation to waters calm, placid and resplendent, to an India more surreal, and India that we’re not, but can surely be, in years to be. Modi is my PM! If anything, we are just progressing.
- ARTICLE by TEAM AGA & ABD
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