PEOPLE have extraordinary capacity to evade the law. Recently a person from Gurgaon was apprehended at Dimapur airport with Rs 3 crore demonetized notes which he was carrying to hand over to the son-in-law of a former chief minister of Nagaland. Such transactions must have taken place in Meghalaya as well, more so in the city of Shillong, known for its notorious benami transactions. It is reported that there has been a sudden spurt in transactions of Jan Dhan Yojna accounts amounting to Rs 64,000 crore. Obviously, there is more than meets the eye here since the Jan Dhan Yojna is a zero balance account opened for the weaker sections so the subsidies from LPG etc., can be directly transferred to the account. Taking cognizance of this the Reserve Bank of India has warned people of “strict punitive action” for exchanging or dealing in specified bank notes in an unauthorised manner. The Income Tax Department has asked banks to report all cash deposits exceeding Rs. 2.5 lakh during the 50-day window provided to tender the now defunct Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes. Previously, banks were required to report to the I-T department only when cash deposits in an account exceeded Rs 10 lakh a year. The Modi Government’s attempt to clamp down on black money has many detractors. Opposition political parties led by West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamta Banerjee have been most vehement in their opposition of the demonetization process started on November 8, last. They have called a united protest across the country today and hope to get public support for it. Their contention is that demonetization has hit the poor and daily wage earners the hardest. But the poor who could have also spoken up for themselves have not made an issue of the banned notes. They hope that there is merit in Modi’s action in the long run. Prime Minister Modi, had during his election campaign in 2014, promised to construct homes for the poor in the next five years. Much of the black money that has not been declared but is today demonetized, is the property of the Reserve Bank of India The money can subsequently be used by the NDA Government for building those homes for the poor. Those who doubt Modi’s intentions need to wait and watch out for the long term results
