With a 50% rise in deposits by Indian in the Swiss National Bank the claims of the Narendra Modi government that it is fighting the black money menace is exposed. While all money deposited by Indians in Swiss banks, or the other tax havens abroad, need not necessarily be black money but clearly, the evil of black money is growing phenomenally, and governmental steps are of little help so far.
The Congress has lambasted the Modi Government and asking what has happened to PM Modi’s promise during the 2014 general election campaign that he would, if elected to power, bring back black money deposited in banks abroad. He had also stated famously that he would put Rs 15 lakh each from the money thus brought back, into the accounts of poor Indians.But while the Modi government has created bank accounts for poor Indians, most of these accounts are poorly transacted other than credits of subsidy reimbursements.
Granted that the then PM-hopeful had made claims to win votes in his and the BJP’s favour. But, the rise in the deposits by Indians in Swiss banks has come about when deposits by individuals from other nations increased by no more than three per cent. Also, the last year’s rise has come about after a fall in such deposits for a couple
of years. This major upward spiral happened after Demonetisation
What this goes to show is the Modi government’s attempts to tame the black money menace have not seen positive results. Rather, Demonetisation — which proved to be a disaster on the one side – appears to have encouraged more Indians to deposit money in banks abroad. After Demonetisation, more checks and balances are in place in relation to money transactions via Indian banks. But the result is, that the Indian economy that ran on the strength of the black money faced a major hit. Sectors like real estate are now down in the dumps even while those who have black money are managing to funnel it to tax havens abroad now in more energetic ways.
While PM Modi is not corrupt, some allegations against BJP chief Amit Shah are of a serious nature. It’s high time the Centre devised new ways to tackle the evil of black money and corruption as both supplement and complement each other.