‘Grey’ move against black money

​Its a dangerous trend that PM modi has set in.  Though he must be applauded for his bold steps towards reforms in governance and fight against corruption,  but with a bit of care.  

His move to de- monetise high value currency is a bold and quite needed step,  but the timing and method is questionable.  Here are few questions that still remain in my mind unanswered. 

1. Timing: This time of the year is well known for festivals, marriages and tourism. Yet,  it was chosen as appropriate time to detonate this bomb which resulted in several deaths in family which were preparing for marriage celebrations,  pushed foreign tourists into utter chaos and forget about festivities, it created dearth of sufficient food and livelihood.  Its well accepted that these are short term issues,  and because of this understanding, i fail to digest and interpret why this period of year was chosen by the intellectuals who could contemplated the problems that people might face quite fairly,  but not these big issues.  This timing makes sense if i attach political motives of BJP to this move of National good! 

Uttar Pradesh and punjab elections are around the corner.  

2. Will this really curb black money in long run? This move will certainly squash the black money, to some extent, in circulation at present moment but does not guarantee anyway that new black money hoarding will not take place in future.  Instead it will be doubly easier for new hoarding with new double denomination currency notes. 

3. BJP fundings: there were allegations regarding the huge sums of money that BJP spent in its election campaign in 2014. And most of it was funded by big corporate families. I do not and cannot buy the argument that BJP did not take ‘preventive’  measure in its favour prior to this announcement. Black money forms a major part of all political parties funding.  In present time,  its not practically possible for a party,  especially national parties like BJP and Congress to contest elections with 100% legal funding. If it is so committed against black money,  why did BJP government went against bringing Political Parties funding under RTI? Charity should have begun at home!

Targeting small hoarders will not serve the purpose. Its the big corporate houses and industries and MNCs who are involved in corruption in form of under voicing and round tripping.  Catching a few of those big names would have served the purpose far better. Bureaucrats and politicians are not going to be the sufferers,  they had avenues to generate black money and also to convert into white through NGOs,  donations and what not. Its just small hoarders who are being targeted. The concept of Common but Differentiated Responsibility should have been fully Incorporates here

There is another link to this,  media gagging. Slapping a day ban on NDTV India after 9 months of incidence and then holding the order was just a method to warn media houses about the consequences they may face in case of non compliance of its circulars and instructions,  like the one,  i suppose,  is been sent to them instructing not to oppose the move under any circumstance and downplay any other person or party doing the same. One can easily recognize this. Media which has a habbit to promote most minor criticism of government action,  seems united and singing in same tone of “temporary suffering and sacrifice for greater good” . Even in the debate shows,  the anchors are not allowing the criticisms to have enough focus. 
Was is not possible to raid a few thousand of bureaucrats in the country simultaneously in a ‘surgical strike’  or a few hundreds of politicians to achieve similar objectives??  
That danger that i talked about in the beginning was about WRAPPING VESTED INTEREST IN THE CLOTH OF NATIONAL SERVICE.  UP being the most significant state in the Union which can even clear the roadblock that Government faces in Rajya Sabha,  is the real target.

It would not be wrong to call this move as “Coloured Anti Corruption Drive” 

Cancer Of Child Labour

A farmer can never expect a high yield if sown seeds are diseased. Then why do we expect our future, our country to prosper at unprecedented rate when we are not protecting our seeds and allowing them to rot like they is some unwanted shrubs?

Every political party prepare a list of hot agendas for their election campaign, promises of development, insurance at cheap rate, pension plans for senior citizens, inflation, over hauling of defence system, caste based reservation, building temples, mosques, metro lines, cheap homes and what not. One thing that most of us don’t notice is that, they never make promises about abolishing child labour completely. They never keep this high on their agenda that they would work hard for the freedom and liberation of children who are forced into the hell of child labour. Have we ever given it a thought why is that so? Its simple, because Right to Vote is given after 18 years, so all the schemes are for them.

But who is to take care about those initial 18 years of the underprivileged children which define the rest of the life? Seldom this topic of child labour is debated, even in media, mostly when there is nothing much happening in the country. And when it is questioned, the robotic answer that is distributed is “laws are there, system is there and its working.  We will further enhance it because children are our future and prime target and blah blah… “. Do we still buy those words?

First of all, various Acts and laws which are prevalent in the country are extremely weak and vague. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that they are combination of loop holes, which are too easily distorted and misused. Whatever a little effectiveness it can create is lost due to secondary importance given to its implementation, personal relations of the culprit with the caretakers of law and last but not the least – greed, insensitivity and carelessness of common people, including me and you!

Child labour is an act of crime constitutionally which we break and allow others to break religiously. Government has excuse that they don’t get complaints against it. Are they really serious? The children selling newapaper on streets, serving food and water in dhabas and restaurants, polishing shoes, begging on streets and stations, selling flowers, working as slaves right at their neighbourhood, are those not children? Or do they expect those very kids to come to them and complain themselves? Height of negligence is that child labour can be seen frequently in the premises of Court of Law.

Isn’t it our responsibility to report these incidences? Our one courageous step could save a life. Every child is innocent and has right to respectable life. It is our carelessness and government’s negligence which is responsible for all the miseries and humiliations that those human beings bear for the rest of their life. Why do we have lakhs of crores to spend on defence projects when there’s no war, crores to spend on celebrating Yoga Day and other occasion when these children are struggling and working for survival. Child labour is not always forced, but sometime by choice for the survival. Probably this is the reason sometimes we resist complaining. But who is responsible in the end? Surely not those kids.

There are numerous laws and Acts in India which restricts child labour. Some of them are:

The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any factory.

The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a mine.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.

There are many more. Despite these laws, according to recent census, there are more than 5 million child labours currently in India, and we all know how honest and true these government figures are!

These laws concentrate more on restricting child labour in hazardous places, which is good, that should be the first priority. But why there are less and ambiguous rules for others working in non hazardous areas? Child labour irrespective of type or work, destroys not only childhood but the entire life. Moreover, these laws lay down various conditions like the age, health, type of work etc. to classify whether a child can work on not, but this completely lacks a reliable framework which could provide honest collection of information about these parameters.

A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour activities if between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week. Who is  calculating these hours or who is monitoring? A kid of age around 10 don’t even have the knowledge nor the courage to file a complaint if he is made to over work, then who?

What are the root causes of child labour? If we suppose in our “virtual” world that people start reporting incidences of child labour and police start taking expected actions, will everything improve? No!
The situation will improve when government prepare plans to eradicate the root causes of child labour, which are poverty, corruption, lack of schools, basic facilities to children etc. Thousands of schools are opened every year, but most of them survive only on paper. Which successfully make their way up to reality don’t have teacher. The teachers which are employed at high wages by the government are either virtually attending the classes or are not qualified enough. The mid day meal, a well appreciated initiative of Indian Government could not withstand the cancer of corruption. The food grains supplied for the schools are either of lowest possible quality, or is sold away by the very administration and teacher of the schools which were endowed with the responsibility to feed the students.  Apart from schools, the financial conditions of the guardians are so awful sometimes that the child has to grow faster than nature allows him. In order to feed, children are forced to work and earn. There are ration shops to supply cheap sugar, rice, kerosene etc., but nothing in India can escape from corruption.

But its not dark everywhere. The NGOs have worked exceptionally well in last decade towards the eradication of child labour. Hats off to them, but we cannot leave everything to them. There is little service that we can do for these gifts of god :

From today onwards, every time you leave a tip in restaurant, or every time you eat unwillingly, very time you leave food on your plate, every time you give away your change to a professional beggar, every time you spend even a single penny which is not necessary, just give a thought what that extra change or that extra food or that extra clothe would mean to a child who sacrifices his/her childhood and work day and night to earn two square meals and fundamental rights which have been promised by the Constitution as birth right. Donate that extra penny to help these under privileged children overcome their poverty and go to a school. You are not expected to give away your property, but you are also not expected to give away your honesty, at least for these kids.
Lets not forget, all of us who are able to read this, have been brought up like a flower in a nursery, that does not mean, flowers outside have lesser potential or lesser right to survive or blossom and spread fragrance all around.

Tale of Two Modis

Last year, almost same time there was a Modi wave who revolutioniz

Lalit Triology

ed political arena of India, and again a Modi revolutionizing Indian politics in second year. Initially, last year Modi was underestimated, this time again, Modi was initially underestimated. With each rally Modi held seemed like snatching away the governance from UPA. This time again, with each revelation, Modi seems like snatching the governance but from NDA. Indian politics is turning out to be a Tale if Two Modis.

This sleeping “tiger” with a number of secrets under his paws was tickled over Sushma Swaraj and since then a series of “tweet bombs” are being dropped frequently injuring careers if not life, one by one. First Sushma Swaraj, then Vasundhara Raje, then her son Dushyant Singh and many more. When Congress started to mount over BJP he went after Congress with revelations regarding personal relations with Priyanka Gandhi and of course the son-in-law Robert Vadra. This was just a beginning. Names of senior retired judges of High Court also popped up for supporting in a UK court by signing an affidavit. Next on the list was cricket. Raina, Jadeja and Bravo were involved in bribing according to his latest tweet and moreover ICC was informed about this in 2013, which in turn informed BCCI but it did not care to respond. So indirectly BCCI is the accused. All this is happening over twitter. Twitter has become a weapon of mass destruction for him which he is using very economically. Seems like he is enjoying the show.

What should have been the response of various concerned groups?

Every political party is demanding for direct resignation of Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje. Smriti Irani’s resignation demand is like “gone with the wind“. Nobody is bothered about the authenticity of the allegations put up by Lalit Modi. As congress came up with a proof against Ms. Raje, they must come up with some concrete evidence against Sushma Swaraj to have some strong base for demanding resignation. As a Minister may lose confidence of public in case of allegation, opposition may also spoil their image further by demanding resignation based on tweets of an accused who has been escaping from law enforcement agencies for four years now.

Government has a lot to do at this time. Vasundhara Raje and Lalit Modi have business relations and now Congress have come up with unavoidable evidences against Ms. Raje alleging the misuse of power and public office to benefit her business and also Lalit Modi’s. Dholpur Palace which have always been government property until 2010, suddenly belonged to her and Lalit Modi has a major share in it. Also gift of Rs. 30crore on her birthday, large investment in Ms. Raje’s son Dushyant Singh’s business seems to be suspicious, the price of which has been paid by signing 7-page document for UK authorities to help Lalit Modi. What was most shocking was that while giving an affidavit, Ms. Raje did mention the condition that it should not be revealed to GOI. This clearly shows that she did know that the help provided was illegal and also immoral. Government has now two choices. Either they some how bring back Lalit Modi and save Modi government ASAP, else, they will have to think on demands of the opposition. Morally and also legally, Vasundhra Raje must step down, protecting the goodwill of the party and also her political career. One must not forget, if the court finds her guilty while being on constitutional post, it may declare her ineligible to hold any public office in future and hence ending the career. BJP should respect the mandate given to them by the people of India and not try to benefit their minister, just like the minister misused her power to benefit an accused.

Sushma Swaraj’s clarification should be cross checked. She says it was humanitarian and she only told the UK authorities that they must work according to their laws and it wont affect the relations of the two countries. Why are those documents not made public? Once documents come in public, everything will be crystal clear. There won’t be any allegation. Either she will come out to be a culprit or freed from all charges. Unless this happens, in order to maintain public trust she must step down. This is perhaps the best possible chance for BJP to showcase the promised ZERO TOLERANCE towards corruption. If, in future, they prove the honesty of their minister, she can resume her office any day. Politically and morally, BJP will be benefited from this little sacrifice.

Public who trusted and gave huge mandate to BJP for their promise of development and zero tolerance of corruption, seems no more sure of them. These incidences occurred right after elections. More over, PM Modi who is known for his oratory skills, is silent on the issue which is costing him his image. This is against the his nature. His silence is speaking louder and every person is interpreting this silence in his/her own way. BJP spokespersons cannot defend for long behind the walls of scams during UPA government. Corruption of others cannot validate yours. 

Humanitarianism Or Illegitimate Exchange Of Favors?

Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister is accused of helping Mr. Lalit Modi in procuring British travel documents in july 2014 . The reason for this favors is given as humanitarianism. According to her, Mr. Lalit Modi requested her “personally” for the help in getting permission to travel Portugal for the operation of her wife who was suffering with cancer. Ms. Sushma Swaraj helped him on humanitarian grounds and interacted with the UK authorities to “consider” his request and made sure that this act won’t affect the relations of the two country. 

Everything would have been fine if Mr. Lalit Modi was not a man against whom Enforcement Directorate had already issued Blue Corner notice, searching him for the arrest and who was accused of corruption of thousands of crores in a IPL scam. Keeping in mind the background relation of Ms. Swaraj’s family and Lalit Modi, things doesn’t seems to be so simple and ‘humanitarian’ as they are portrayed. Sushma Swaraj’s husband and her daughter have been the legal advisors of Mr. Modi for last 22 and 7 years respectively. Mr. Modi was once an influential man with contacts placed at high positions all over the world. In a recent revelation, things have started smelling more fishy. Sushma Swaraj once asked for a favor to Mr. Modi for the help in securing admission in Sussex University in Britain. Mr. Lalit Modi forwarded the request on his behalf to Indian origin Bristish MP Keith Vaz who replied in affirmation. Such exchange of favors is sufficient for accusing Ms. Swaraj. 

Whats utterly wrong in this incidence is, all this exchange of favors was not done at personal level. The Ministry of Foreign affairs was utilized for the unjust favor extended to an accused on grounds that were not even verified. Did Sushma Swaraj verify the conditions and reports of Mrs. Modi before considering his request for favor? Why was the government and court of India not informed about the problem and why a permission was not seeked from Indian Judiciary. Does her help on personal level indirectly blames Indian legal system to be inhumanitarian? There are reports regarding the tour of Mr. Modi that it wasn’t a tour for her cancer suffering wife but for parties with celebrities which he mistakenly updated with picture evidences on social networking site Instagram.  Her adoption of opposite coarse for helping Mr. Modi puts up many questions on her action.

This is a legal matter of misuse of power and office which should be investigated by law enforcement agencies. This matter has and should be criticized by the political population but the way the protests have started with gathering at the house of External Affairs Minister clearly shows the desperation of the opposition and other political parties. It show how the opposition is running short of agendas to humiliate the ruling party. Asking for resignation is utter nonsense. Keeping in mind the rescue operation in Libya, she has worked well as the External Affairs Minister so far. This is the first accusation against her and that too not yet proven. 
Misuse of power and position is a form of corruption and in this incidence if Sushma Swaraj is found guilty, it would be a new height of corruption in India.