While this has lately become a very touchy topic, I couldn’t help talking about one of the biggest concerns I have. As a BFSI analyst, I have been answering ‘n’ number of queries coming from all sorts of people – fellow analysts, colleagues, family, friends, shopkeepers, journalists, and so on. While I am not really a “know it all” kinda person (no one really is, for that matter), in such times I am certainly expected to be one. I have so far tried being able to provide satisfying answers.
As the day dawned with everyone in the financial markets and other businesses as well betting big time on who would be the next US President, no one had really thought that one of the world’s biggest decisions would end up being a non-event by the end of the day, at least in India. And there it was; the game changing address of the Honourable Indian Prime Minister at 2000 hours, when he declared demonetisation of the Rs500 and Rs1,000 currency notes with effect from ‘0000 hours’ that night. A sudden panic struck each and every citizen – the rich & the poor; salaried & self-employed; students & teachers; the young & the old…all equally in every city, town and village. All sorts of questions sprang up – who, when, why, where, what and how. Several people got troubled and several sailed through somehow, very few complained and a majority were convinced and happy about the PM’s brave decision (including me).
After a few days, by the end of November 2016, the official data on total amount of money deposited in the banks, money put as charity in temples and hospitals and the cash deposits in the accounts opened under the ‘Jan Dhan Yojna (JDY)’ have actually left me with a serious worry. Is India also becoming a ‘money laundering hub’?
While a lot of people may differ from my opinions and condemn it to the core, I wish to remind myself that I live in the “Sovereign Socialist Democratic Secular Republic of India” and have an equal right to put forward what I feel, especially if it is in the best interest of out dear Nation.
Ever thought why did the PM launch the JDY at all? Well there are reportedly a lot of poor people in the rural and urban regions, who have so little money that they couldn’t open a normal bank account as they were unable to maintain any minimum balance therein. They live their lives on an ‘earn and eat’ model. But post the demonetisation ~Rs27,000 crore have been deposited into these JDY accounts, in less than a month’s time. So, where did all this money come from? Did the poor people actually keep so much cash at home to deal with their basic needs? The answer would probably be ‘No’. Similarly, why is it that the temples and hospitals which have always been getting donations and funding from few people (not that the money received earlier was any less), have started receiving so much cash that it has become difficult for them to handle the same? Is this not unusual? What made these people so humble, concerned about the unwell population and so devotional towards temple trusts…all of a sudden? Well the answer to this is probably – these options are any day better than throwing away your black money somewhere in to the sea. Not that it is any crazy example, some people actually did that. Weird? Yes it is. But, true as well.
The honourable PM has been talking to people in various cities and towns, addressing mass meetings, explaining the importance of this decision. At the same time, there are other political parties – not naming any in particular as there are many – who have been trying to fight against the discomfort caused by this transition. But apart from the basic discomfort of getting the currency exchanged and the temporary issues pertaining to the daily basic necessities such as laundry, grocery, milk, etc; nothing really seems to be largely affected by this decision. If you ask me, I have paid my bills online, shopped for medicines using old currency, paid the petrol bills by card, and so on. Even the small vendor from whom I purchase milk and grocery uses a smart phone and downloaded PayTM within days of the decision and until then gave credit to the regular customers. Nothing really halted in my life…anything at all. And to be honest, nothing halted in the lives of the household helpers that we deal with either, they could sail through with minimal discomfort (well, some aberrations from the normal day-to-day life were bound to be there after such a big leap).
So who were the people who really faced trouble then?
1) Those having loads of black money stacked at home (some closely known to me too), as they were left clueless as to how not to get caught and how to wade off as much trouble as possible and to park more money in a way that it is out of the view of the governmental hawks and can be recovered at any time in future; 2) Some senior citizens who were living alone and didn’t know how to go about the whole process and needed help; and finally 3) The so called ‘Elite Politicians’ who had kept aside huge sums of money to pay for their election campaign expenses. (I know some people who may feel like bombing me after reading this blog. However, they won’t coz they love me too much. I’m safe that way. Hehehe)
While the 2nd category also somehow sailed through with the help of friends, relatives, neighbours and household helpers, the biggest problems were faced by the 1st and the 3rdcategories (rather they re still facing trouble, which is why there are several oppositions to the decision, debates and arguments). I don’t believe in the logic that one set of people are good and the other corrupt. Nor do I believe in any political party for that matter. If I were to talk about politics, I would have picked 10 great leaders across all parties. Sadly they work for different leaders. Had they been together and united, India would have changed, the way the world looks at this country, ages back. Not getting into those details here, this event has affected one and all.
With a gamut of actions and news floating on a daily basis, the silly side of people also has awakened, though sarcastically – saying the PM instead of removing poverty removed the riches. Well if I have to ask you, point blank. Who is poor? Now do you feel like shouting at me and say, ‘are you mad?’ or ‘just shut up if you don’t know a thing?’ Well, I do. So answer me, ‘who is poor?’ Are the people living on the foot-path poor? But then they do carry cash amounting to more than a few thousands (as what I have witnessed myself, not relying on any story). Are the traditional farmers poor? But they have seasonal short falls of funds and seasonal bouts of riches too. Are those people poor, to whom the great politicians keep promising “roti, kapda aur makaan’ for a trade against the votes that these people would cast in their favour? Believe me; this list can go on…
If you really ask me, I believe (and just to remind you all, this blog contains my personal views only…unbiased and crude) that the real poor are those villages who have schools but no teachers to teach, those so called ‘Naxalites’ who have the cash and a well occupied place to live; but not a single medical aid when they really need. Poor are those who think of sharing their wealth only when they are scared of all of it really going to the sea. Poor are NOT those who stay hungry but don’t complain, make an effort but lose, try to stand up but fall. And what we, the so called well-to-do people do, provide a charity lunch outside a temple and ask boldly, “kya abhi bhi koi bhookha hai?” Is that the only thing we can do in life? Can’t we ask ourselves some worthy questions and actually deal with the anomalies of this world? For how long will you believe that giving some amount to a charitable trust, taking a receipt in return for tax benefits and then sitting in a spa or enjoying derby would bring you peace? People have been fighting against the government’s actions and singing about other people’s troubles due to demonetisation to a level that doesn’t really do any good to the society or the world. Did we just try utilising the same resources for the smooth functioning of the same? The answer is NO. And my question is WHY?
Instead of asking “kya abhi bhi koi bhookha hai?” best is to turn hungry ourselves. Let us be hungry for growth, hungry for development – not just commercial but mental, emotional and spiritual. Let’s get hungry to really understand the people around us and help them sail through all their difficulties in life. We can’t provide solutions to each problem, but what best we can do is to stop creating them.
No comments:
Post a Comment