Editor,
On Tuesday November 8, 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a bold step to curb corruption, black money, funding of terrorists and other illegal activities and declared a ban on high denomination of Rs-500 and Rs-1000 currency notes. The demonetisation decision was widely supported by the people of India and other countries of the world. Unfortunately the demonetisation decision is not supported by the some sections of people, some political leaders and the Chief Minister of some states marching to Rashtrapati Bhavan, demanding roll-back of the demonetisation decision and seeking President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention in the matter. The Chief Minister who before the election promised the people to wipe out corruption and black money from the society, after coming to the power forget every promise they made before the election and engaged in promoting corruption and black money. The common and honest people of India support government’s “Demonetisation Decision”. Some people said it’s a good move for the national ecomic development and it would control inflation. But some high profile political leaders and dishonest people said there was no “economic rationale” behind the government’s decision to scrap Rs-500 and Rs-1000 notes and feared it could turn out to be a huge scam. These leaders are misguiding the people of India and eyeing on upcoming assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh and other states of India and they want to play dirty politics to make a comeback to power.
The people of India have no faith on them as they were in power for 70 years but did nothing apart from promoting corruption and being involved in many scams. They made “Rupee” weaker against the “Dollar.” For instance in 1947 at the time of Indian Independence the “Rupee” and “Dollar” were of equal value(Rupee 1 = 1 Dollar). The present government at the centre has taken a bold step to demonetize higher denominations for the betterment of our future and the nation’s economic development. Sadly the opposition has ganged up to raise their voice against the government’s demonetisation decision by disrupting the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha sessions. If the opposition continues to protest in front of the Parliament against the government’s “demonetisation decision,”it is time for people to realize that they are against the long term welfare of common people of India. These self-seekers have no right to waste the precious time of Parliament and public money and those who oppose demonetization are committing “treason.
Yours etc.,
Sandeep Ghosh,
Shillong-4
Demonetisation: Saving Grace for a Hopeful Economy
Editor,
Long since has the stage been set, beginning with the Jan-Dhan Yojana to bring over 255 million individuals[1] under the banking system, the Gold Monetization Scheme as an alternative to hold physical gold, the Income Declaration Scheme meant to provide a single window for people to declare their unaccounted wealth and now, the masterstroke of demonetization. With these measures, the government aims to fight the evil of black money, combat corruption, bridge the financial gap prevalent in the country.
It has been fifteen days since the measure was announced; unsurprisingly, it has created apprehensions in the minds of many. The way forward requires the government to set stricter laws to ensure that unaccounted wealth is prevented from raising its ugly head again. Moves such as a stricter tax regime, both, direct and indirect, not just in terms of simplification, but also in terms of accounting and payment. Specifically, wholesale traders who use cash even today to transact do so to avoid a paper trail that can allow their actual income to be determined. While the Direct Tax Code simplifies the payment mechanism, elimination of cash as a means to transact and usage of digital money will ensure accountability for actual tax dues. One can expect the Government to clamp down hard on cash available for use in the economy by implementing a ceiling limit on the transaction amount to be done in cash.
With the surge in liquidity that banks will experience as a result of the clampdown on hard cash, investors expect interest rates to fall, making sources of funds cheaper in the economy. Indeed, a good mechanism to propel investments within the economy.
The Government has also moved the printing of notes from overseas to new plants set up in Mysuru and Hoshanabad which has allowed for heightened security features and safety of movement of notes from the mills to the banking system with clear accountability. Demonetization will eliminate counterfeit notes, but the production of new notes in-house will be a better promise to keep such counterfeits out of our economy for a prolonged period of time. If proven successful, we can expect withdrawal and replacement of other denominations to increase security in paper money altogether.
If old notes are not converted in time, the RBI can write-off its liability in-part on the foregone currency notes. The government doesn’t have a clear picture on how much will not be converted, but no matter what the amount, the reduction in liability will help the RBI and the government to repay some of its foreign debt which will help clean the balance sheet of the nation and reduce the country risk premium international investors demand. Moreover, initiatives like Make in India, Digital India and Start-up India will receive their push to propel the economy at a faster pace.
Lastly, demonetization will bring about a behavioral change in people with respect to the digital medium for transacting through the use of digital wallets, payment banking and plastic money.
Yours etc.,
Sankeerth Bondugula & Anoop Prakash
Finance Club, IIM Shillong
Nazareth Hospital excels in health care
Editor,
I read with pleasure and pride the news appearing in your esteemed daily (ST Nov 24, 2016) that Nazareth Hospital has become the 1st NABH-accredited Hospital in the State of Meghalaya. I congratulate the Nazareth Hospital management and staff for achieving its noble services in quality healthcare improvement. The Hospital received the Accreditation award from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers for providing the best services in patient care. But it disheartening that the Hospital is short of specialists in different units like Cardiology, Nephrology, Neurology, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Physiology, Obstetrics and Dentistry etc. The patients in today’s world are suffering from different, unknown and rare diseases that require specialized treatment. Most often we find that for most of the advanced and rare cases, the patients are referred to other Hospitals in Shillong or outside for better or advanced treatment due to lack of specialists in Nazareth Hospital. Even for certain tests, patients have to be referred to other Hospitals like Woodlands Hospital in Shillong for they don’t have modern required machines, and doctors.
I would therefore like to suggest that the Management of Nazareth Hospital, should spread its wings and appoint medical specialists in healthcare departments as mentioned above in order to provide better and improved health care and achieve the rank of the best Hospital in Meghalaya.
Yours etc.
- R. Dkhar
Shillong-6.