Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Is it right to deceive us with a money bill?

In a trick on the people of the nation the government is going to table Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Financial Services and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services ) Bill, as a money bill in the Lok Sabha today. At first glance the intention seems to be pious. All handouts to the poor are to be transferred directly into their bank accounts. To that end 210 million people without bank accounts have been encouraged to open accounts, even with zero balance. This enables the government to transfer money directly into accounts of beneficiaries, thus eliminating theft. It also reduces the number of people who falsely register themselves as Below the Poverty Line, to take advantage of handouts. Thus, by targeting subsidies to the genuine poor the government reduces its total bill while making sure that no deserving person misses out.  So what is the problem? The first trick is that by introducing it as a money bill the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in minority, is taken out of the equation, because a money bill needs a simple majority in the Lok Sabha to be passed. The second trick is that the Public Distribution System or ration shops distribute grains, sugar and kerosene, which cannot be transferred to bank accounts, and is the source of massive thefts, as happened in UP. The National Food Security Act, passed by the Congress in 2013, guarantees grains at throwaway prices, take home rations and hot meals. Which, apart from costing humongous amounts of money, encourages the poor to produce more children. We are told that increasing number of young people is a demographic dividend because this provides India with a huge labor force, to increase production and create double digit growth in the economy. China is cited as an example. Is it? It is entirely possible that China's rapid industrialisation was due to its one child policy which prevented 400 million births and released millions of women into the workforce, which brought down labor costs, increased production and brought 600 million people out of poverty. Only 22.5% of women in India are working which means that 217 million women are missing from the workforce. The IMF estimates that if all these women joined the labor force the GDP would expand by a mind-blowing 27%. The final trick is that the tax paying middle class receives nothing from the government. No education, no healthcare and no pension. In Denmark, where every citizen receives social benefits, such a number makes sense but in India it smacks of a gestapo state forcing citizens to provide photos, prints of all 10 fingers and iris scans. For what? When a Home Minister covers up for terrorists it means that our politicians are our worst enemies. Our biometric data in the hands of such scum is deeply worrying. It is not a money bill, it is a double-cross bill.

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