Demonetisation, the biggest decision of 2016
Shekhar Iyer, New Delhi, Dec 31, 2016, DHNS:
Year gone by: Govt crafts strategy to shed pro-corporate image, shelves land bill
Demonetisation may have been the single biggest decision of the Narendra Modi government in 2016.
But the year also saw many other critical policy decisions taken by the government, which was stung by the Opposition’s constant criticism that it was more status quoist than a true performer.
The first two years of Modi’s term were bogged down by attempts to bring in a new land acquisition bill that finally had to be shelved when rivals accused the prime minister of being “anti-farmer” and “pro-corporate”.
Cut to 2016, his government began to craft a strategy that could change that perception and move towards creating a pro-poor constituency that could cut across regions.
In March, Parliament approved the Aadhaar Bill. It gave a statutory backing for the identification numbers to be used for transfer of subsidies and benefits to those eligible. Significantly, it also signalled the prime minister’s willingness to wholly adopt a United Progressive Alliance’s idea, which the BJP had opposed.
In July, the government announced that all Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) would be linked to Aadhaar by end of 2016. All subsidies and welfare schemes are to be brought under the DBT net by March 31, 2017.
In May, the government brought the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 – which got Parliament’s approval – to help in solving the crisis in public sector banks already burdened with bad loans and improving the ease of doing business ranking.
As early as March, Parliament passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, which seeks to create a set of rights and obligations for consumers and developers.
Another measure was the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, passed in August – well before demonetisation. In fact, it was supposed to be a preparatory step for the big move. But it came into effect only in November.In August, Parliament passed the Goods and Services Taxes (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill. The aim is to have one indirect tax for the whole nation. However, the rollout of the new tax regime on April 1, 2017, stands put off.
In September, the Cabinet approved the merger of the Railway and General Budgets from 2017-18, ending a 92-year-old colonial tradition. Finally, Modi sprung a surprise with his November 8 announcement to demonetise Rs 1,000 and 500 notes.
As serpentine queues outside ATMs became enduring images of 2016, the Opposition called it the year of state-sponsored disruption. Comparing it with the surgical strikes by the army on terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, they said Modi was forever seeking glory to write himself into history books.
Modi called it a war on black money with many economists questioning its efficacy to eradicate the ills. “If you act with clarity and with the purest of motives, the results will be there for anyone to see. Whatever my critics may say, I seek no personal benefit from all this, only the greater good,” was Modi’s way of summing up his government’s actions.
But the year also saw many other critical policy decisions taken by the government, which was stung by the Opposition’s constant criticism that it was more status quoist than a true performer.
The first two years of Modi’s term were bogged down by attempts to bring in a new land acquisition bill that finally had to be shelved when rivals accused the prime minister of being “anti-farmer” and “pro-corporate”.
Cut to 2016, his government began to craft a strategy that could change that perception and move towards creating a pro-poor constituency that could cut across regions.
In March, Parliament approved the Aadhaar Bill. It gave a statutory backing for the identification numbers to be used for transfer of subsidies and benefits to those eligible. Significantly, it also signalled the prime minister’s willingness to wholly adopt a United Progressive Alliance’s idea, which the BJP had opposed.
In July, the government announced that all Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) would be linked to Aadhaar by end of 2016. All subsidies and welfare schemes are to be brought under the DBT net by March 31, 2017.
In May, the government brought the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 – which got Parliament’s approval – to help in solving the crisis in public sector banks already burdened with bad loans and improving the ease of doing business ranking.
As early as March, Parliament passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, which seeks to create a set of rights and obligations for consumers and developers.
Another measure was the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, passed in August – well before demonetisation. In fact, it was supposed to be a preparatory step for the big move. But it came into effect only in November.In August, Parliament passed the Goods and Services Taxes (GST) Constitutional Amendment Bill. The aim is to have one indirect tax for the whole nation. However, the rollout of the new tax regime on April 1, 2017, stands put off.
In September, the Cabinet approved the merger of the Railway and General Budgets from 2017-18, ending a 92-year-old colonial tradition. Finally, Modi sprung a surprise with his November 8 announcement to demonetise Rs 1,000 and 500 notes.
As serpentine queues outside ATMs became enduring images of 2016, the Opposition called it the year of state-sponsored disruption. Comparing it with the surgical strikes by the army on terror camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, they said Modi was forever seeking glory to write himself into history books.
Modi called it a war on black money with many economists questioning its efficacy to eradicate the ills. “If you act with clarity and with the purest of motives, the results will be there for anyone to see. Whatever my critics may say, I seek no personal benefit from all this, only the greater good,” was Modi’s way of summing up his government’s actions.
No comments:
Post a Comment