Editor,
I am an ardent follower of your newspaper but I am appalled to note that there are almost no letters to the editor from the Garo Hills. It would appear that all is hunky dory in that region of Meghalaya. Yet the Garo Hill is still largely neglected. There are constant power failures and people suffer from travelling on bad roads. What’s with the people of Garo Hills? They are educated, articulate and I see them very active on social media but when it comes to placing their demands in the mainstream media we see a complete silencing of the region. Does it take some earth-shaking event for the people of Garo Hills to begin to speak up? Prior to the elections I saw a few letters relating to politics but after that there was silence all over again. I am not a reader of Salantini Janera the sister edition of your newspaper in Garo hence would be able to comment if readers communicate their woes to it. While the name of your newspaper is The Shillong Times it does not necessarily carry news only from Shillong but from the entire state and also the region and the nation. Hence it is quite comprehensive in its coverage of news for a local newspaper.
I look forward to reading letters from the Garo Hills for I had worked there for several years and have now left to settle elsewhere.
Yours etc.,
A Deb,
Via email
Demonetisation: Success or failure?
Editor
Leave aside politicians, but it is becoming a mystery for even economists to evaluate the impact of demonetization of high denomination of 500 & 1000 rupee currency by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Nov 8, 2016. The ruling NDA initially named it a historic and bold decision to curb illegal and black money, fight against terror funding and predicted the move to be a game changer. On the contrary, opposition parties raised the problems faced by the common man from the long queues in front of cash less banks and ATMs, frequently changed guidelines by RBI and closure of many medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs). This has affected millions of workers/daily wage earners with no signs of recovery even after a considerable period with lowered GDP growth rates. This compelled the renowned economist and former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to call it a monumental blunder. By and large, the 125 crore populace of this great democracy have shown great restraint despite hardships unlike in other countries like Venezuela, and this is totally attributed to the clean image of Modi and the people’s immense faith in him.
Even before the restoration of normalcy from the tumultuous demonetization, the Modi Government rolled out the GST without the systemic preparedness. Traders complained about the tedious reports/returns to be submitted along with complicated and multiple GST slab rates, which had the danger of dampening of businesses. The Government came out with damage control exercise in relaxation/simplification of GST regulations and claimed it a success due to windfall generation of revenues in its coffers. But the benefits of lowered prices to customers post the GST as promised by Government still remains a distant dream. The glaring absurdity of keeping petroleum products away from the purview of GST questions the intentions of both Central and State Governments in passing the benefits to the end users, mostly from the middle class.
Nearly 18 months have passed since the implementation of demonetization, complaints of insufficient currency in circulation with ‘No Cash’ boards at ATMs in many states. Leaders like Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar who had initially supported demonetization are coming out in the open that the stated objectives and benefits have not reached the citizens. He further blamed the banking system for its failure and it is no exaggeration that people have lost faith in the banks burdened with huge NPAs and incidents of defaulters like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya fleeing the country with mammoth debts on their heads. On the contrary, Government is claiming increase in tax revenues with the addition of tax payers after demonetization. Interestingly, Government’s initial claims of 3 to 4 lakh crore rupees likely not reaching the banks for fear of being investigated for unaccounted money and in that event, the same being available to Government as bonus from RBI for spending on developmental purposes was totally ruled out with the deposition of more than 99.5 % of the currency back in the banks. As a result, the Government has become defensive on the issue of demonetization instead of marketing it as their achievement.
Now the Aam Aadmi is in a quandary over the much debated Demonetization. Is it successful or a disaster? How will we know?
Yours etc.,
Amulya Gupta Makam,
Via email