Friday, November 25, 2016
India’s golden moment
Demonetisation is an ethical step. It can help us leave behind culture of illegality, indiscipline, ill-gotten wealth.
The public frenzy for getting hold of cash is visibly subsiding. However, the pressure may well be shifting to smaller towns to which currency supply may not have kept pace. Also, the next wage payment for casual workers, who may well comprise nearly 60 per cent of the workforce, is approaching. Therefore, it may be a good time to take stock, draw lessons and initiate steps to prevent short-term pains from resulting in permanent loss of economic activity.
For me, the ethical and social aspects of this dramatic move are of utmost importance. The measure represents the draining of a cesspool, created over seven decades. We are all party to its creation, either actively or in our passive acceptance of the growing vulgar ostentatious consumption that threatens to become all pervasive. Demonetisation will surely reverse, to some extent, the brazen flaunting of ill-gotten wealth. It may induce India to turn away from the Latin American model of state, with its extreme inequities and rampaging drug mafias, and hopefully, turn it towards the more equitable and honest East Asian model.
We know that black money (currency) is only a small part of the black economy. However, this does not necessarily imply that it is not worthwhile to liquidate stocks of black money without simultaneously attacking other “illegally” acquired assets. The aggregate black economy is estimated at over 30 per cent of the formal economy. Even if black money constitutes 10 per cent of this amount, it represents a cash hoard of nearly Rs 5.5 lakh crore. To try and immobilise that amount or even a substantial part would convey a strong anti-corruption signal.
Three types of criticism have been mounted against the measure. First, economic costs would far outweigh any potential benefits. Second, implementation has been badly botched. Third, it has not gone far enough because it only attacks the stock and does nothing to stymie future flows of illegal economic activity. The first and the third arguments are contradictory because the first considers the measure to be harmful, while the third demands more of the same.
A major concern has been that all those in the informal sector who have legitimate business, though carried out in cash, will be undeservedly hurt. Some may be hurt mortally and result in their permanent closure resulting in job losses and the slowdown of GDP growth. Some wild estimates see GDP growth plummeting to zero in the next two quarters and not recovering in the foreseeable future.
This is surely scare-mongering. All medium, small and even micro production enterprises (production MSMEs as opposed to wholesale or retail traders) surely have some access to formal credit sources. This must be true of MSME export units that are reported to account for 45 per cent of India’s total merchandise exports. The majority of MSMEs deal only partially in cash. Anticipating the onset of GST, many had started to move away from cash transactions as these would not receive any tax credit. Therefore to argue that demonetisation spells doom and disaster for MSMEs is sheer exaggeration.
Farmers, it was asserted by Lalu Prasad, are in deep distress and dying. This is hyperbole. Farmers can sell their kharif harvest of sugarcane to mills with receivables being directly credited to their bank accounts as always. Any amount of paddy can be sold to the FCI at the government-declared minimum support price (MSP). Agro-inputs are normally available at 30-60 day credit to virtually all farmers.
Rabi sowing is, therefore, reportedly on track, opposition parties’ grandstanding notwithstanding. In his November 16 blog on Modi’s bold move, Kenneth Rogoff, the author of The Cashless Economy, wrote: “The short-run costs are unfolding, but the long-run effects on India may well prove more than worth them, but it is very hard to know for sure at this stage.”
It is, therefore, not surprising that the opposition parties find themselves terribly short of public support. Not surprisingly, they have been patently unsuccessful in taking their protests out of Parliament to the streets, where they will be exposed to the strong public support for the PM’s move.
The implementation certainly could have been better. Admittedly, the measure was humungous in scale, cloaked in necessary secrecy and complex. The RBI and ministry of finance should own up their responsibility. To their credit, they have been learning on the job, and have been open to suggestions.
Three practical questions must be answered for further course correction. First, was the relatively short window of 50 days necessary and could it not be extended? Second, could the domestic security printing press capacity constraint not be overcome by placing orders on foreign printers to produce Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes? Printing additional quantities of these denominations would not have breached secrecy and could have augmented the much needed currency supplies? Third, given the scale and time constraint, could government departments and treasuries not be used as points for dispensing and exchanging currency to overcome the shortage of ATMs that are still being re-calibrated.
It is, of course, necessary to take steps to restrict future flow of illegal earnings without which this huge exercise could come to a naught. Some measures are already in place: Greater transparency in governance and roll back of the “inspector raj”, strictures and action against the corrupt in the central government, compulsory linking of Aadhar card with deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts and large purchases of jewellery and real estate, the impending GST, greater surveillance by the CBDT and commercial banks of brokers, developers and jewellers and Jan Dhan accounts, which are the expected conduits for laundering black money. Modi has repeatedly announced that demonetisation is but the beginning and that other steps to curb black money are in the pipeline.
Modi has risked the support of the core constituency of the BJP and RSS — traders, middlemen and small entrepreneurs. He has taken this risk because he believes the measure can help India leave behind the culture of illegality, indiscipline and ill-gotten wealth. Every country needs its “golden moment” to transform itself and surge ahead. I suspect Modi feels it in his bones that this might be that moment for India.
The writer is senior fellow, CPR, and founder director, Pahle India Foundation
Indian Express, 25-11-2016
Parenthood by adoption is not a second choice
Adoption Week for many countries including India has just ended. It’s a particularly poignant time for my family as we celebrate on November 28 a year since our adopted daughter came home.
The past two years has seen both Deepak Kumar, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) secretary/CEO, and Maneka Gandhi, minster for women and child development, demand that adoptions of Indian children be increased. There are currently 10,000 registered PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) with only 1,500 children available for adoption. At least 2,000 are waiting to be declared by CWCs (child welfare committees) eligible for adoption.
Adoption is still a sensitive subject in India. For many it is the last option to have a child after fertility treatment has failed, and those choosing it can face opposition from family, friends and society – after all, aren’t blood ties the strongest and most important in terms of a family? In India, culture and tradition also give a great deal of importance to blood lines. But to give a child a home, a life and love is the greatest gift of all and for which the giver is rewarded many times over.
A recent meeting in Pune brought together professionals, adoptive parents, adoptive children and birth parents to participate in a conference, Understanding Adopted Children.
Eminent professor Nilima Mehta, author of Ours by choice, spoke on the importance of support and counselling for all involved in adoption. Effective pre-adoption counseling is essential to help people make an informed choice. Her lecture resonated on many levels, but the two phrases that have stayed with me? “Adoption is a relationship of choice, just like marriage” and “Parenthood by adoption is not a second choice”.
For me adopting my daughter was not a second choice, and I had always wanted to add to our family in this way, but for our wider families, it was a challenge to accept this. Now a year on, our daughter’s journey to us is part of our family story. I am often contacted by friends of friends to ask about the process and how we did.
A couple at the conference who had given up their daughter for adoption spoke and I found it an eye-opener to listen to their story. It is all too easy to condemn such people as irresponsible but that is a simplistic response. Somewhere there is a couple that gave my daughter her birth, just as we now give her life. They should not be judged by different yardsticks to the ones applied to parents who go in for adoption as a choice.
I am often asked what I will tell our daughter about her adoption. The answer is I need to tell her very little as we are bringing her up to know she is adopted. Adoption is not an easy choice, but it has to be done out of love for it is a connection as strong as any made by blood.
Annie Natarajan is an education consultant
source: Hindustan Times, 25-11-2016
Know vs Understand
SWAMI SUKHABODHANANDA
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What does one have to understand about life? You have many centres: intellectual centre, emotional centre, and body centre.In each centre, there is a mechanical and magnetic part. The mechanical part acts like a machine, while the magnetic part acts with ore awareness. Your mechanical movements and thinking have to change. Your mechanical emotions like jealousy and hatred have to be overcome. You can do this by bringing in more awareness. When you increase awareness, even poison can turn into medicine; and with no awareness, medicine can become poison.In a relationship, is it not necessary to judge? Keep yourself relaxed. Increase your awareness and love. Not to judge should not be a conclusion. Don't make it a demand or compulsion. Let there be a choice. There is a difference between `should' and `choice'. `Should' creates stress; it limits you to only one option. Don't judge. It is not a demand but a wise choice.
What should one be really aware of ? Negative emotions poison. Like avoiding poisonous food, avoid negative emotions.Don't identify with them. Don't participate in them. Choose to create a new will, not be driven by negative emotions. For example, somebody's success should not be your failure. We define our failure by somebody's success. We feel jealous seeing someone successful.Jealousy is a great poison.
Compete with your potential.Even if you compete with others, enjoy it. See beauty all around. Do not define your success and failure by someone's success and failure.
What should one be really aware of ? Negative emotions poison. Like avoiding poisonous food, avoid negative emotions.Don't identify with them. Don't participate in them. Choose to create a new will, not be driven by negative emotions. For example, somebody's success should not be your failure. We define our failure by somebody's success. We feel jealous seeing someone successful.Jealousy is a great poison.
Compete with your potential.Even if you compete with others, enjoy it. See beauty all around. Do not define your success and failure by someone's success and failure.
41% of Indian women face violence before 19: Survey
26% Say They Were Groped In The Last One Month
More than four in 10 women (41%) in India experience harassment or violence before the age of 19, according to a new ActionAid research. The four-nation survey conducted by the international women and child rights NGO also revealed that women experience harassment for the first time at a very young age with 6% of them experiencing it before the age of 10 in India.The figure for Brazil is 16%, while it is 12% in UK and 8% in Thailand. The survey will be released on Friday .The research also found that around 73% of women in India have experienced some form of violence or harassment in the past month. The figure is higher in other countries with 87% of women polled in Brazil and 67% in Thailand having been subjected to harassment or violence in the past month. In UK, it was 57%.
More than one in four (26%) women in India said they were groped in the past month. This compared with one in five women in Brazil (20%), one in four women in Thailand (26%) and one in six in UK (16%), according to the YouGov poll of over 2,500 women aged 18 and above.The poll was commissioned to mark International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and was conducted online with 2,518 participants. The findings also show how women are increasingly taking steps in their daily lives to guard against such threats. More than 82% women in India said they had taken steps to protect themselves against harassment.
This figure was 91% for women between 25 and 34 years. The measures they take include avoiding parks and poorly lit areas (35%) and changing a travel route (36%) to using objects like keys as a weapon (23%) or carrying a device like a rape alarm or pepper spray (18%).
Speaking about the sur vey , ActionAid India executive director Sandeep Chachra said, “Cross country findings suggest immediate action is needed to curb harassment and violence against women. While awareness on rights of women, women's abilities and potential has increased over decades, we are still a long way off from realizing the promise of a just and equal world for half of our humanity . Threats to safety of women are directly related to patriarchal mindsets that manifest itself on streets, at the workplace and at homes“.
More than one in four (26%) women in India said they were groped in the past month. This compared with one in five women in Brazil (20%), one in four women in Thailand (26%) and one in six in UK (16%), according to the YouGov poll of over 2,500 women aged 18 and above.The poll was commissioned to mark International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and was conducted online with 2,518 participants. The findings also show how women are increasingly taking steps in their daily lives to guard against such threats. More than 82% women in India said they had taken steps to protect themselves against harassment.
This figure was 91% for women between 25 and 34 years. The measures they take include avoiding parks and poorly lit areas (35%) and changing a travel route (36%) to using objects like keys as a weapon (23%) or carrying a device like a rape alarm or pepper spray (18%).
Speaking about the sur vey , ActionAid India executive director Sandeep Chachra said, “Cross country findings suggest immediate action is needed to curb harassment and violence against women. While awareness on rights of women, women's abilities and potential has increased over decades, we are still a long way off from realizing the promise of a just and equal world for half of our humanity . Threats to safety of women are directly related to patriarchal mindsets that manifest itself on streets, at the workplace and at homes“.
Source: Times of India, 25-11-2016
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