Statue of Unity - They are two different words

This huge piece of physical structure is a symbol of the competence of the current government. Sounds good right?  But that only covers one half of the Statue of Unity. I am talking of the Statue - the physical structure. Our government is real they are capable of doing real things. Which means starting from the Statue of Unity to building those Smart cities or Bullet trains this government has the potential to pull off the impossible. The government is also aware that  if they want to pull these jobs they need to outsource it to the Chinese. The Chinese sure know how to complete their jobs. 

Our government is smart enough to realise that we cannot get it done ourselves inspite of the the "Make in India”  rhetoric. This smartness is what is required to build the bullet train or the smart cities. 

Lets come to the UNITY part of the edifice. Unity, unlike the statue, is not a physical structure its a notion or a concept. This calls for a different skills set all together. Unity needs to build in the hearts and minds of people. Can BJP do it?  Yes they can if what they have managed to do thus far is to be taken into account. 

They have caused disunity and they have fragmented the society if they can do that they sure have the ability to put it together. To repair something you have to dismantle it first. Thats exactly what the BJP has done with much pain, knowing fully well that it tears apart the social fabric they have ripped apart the peace that communities nurtured over decades. With this statue as a marker we can expect the leadership of the party to stitch the society together once again. Give them another term and they would do it 

Cheers 

Invocation section 7 of the RBI act is less dangerous than claiming “PUBLIC INTEREST” to invoke it.

The fact that the government blinked in the faceoff with the RBI governor is merely short-term relief. The consequences as rightly pointed out by the deputy governor would have been catastrophic. While most may have construed it as a veiled threat, the few that understood the financial consequences of the government’s demand of loosening the purse strings into instructed economic activity realize the truth in the sane advice. The government choice of demonstrating the power to direct the RBI than arguing the case for accelerating economic activity is condemnable.

The government strategy to invoke section 7, under which it initiated consultations on the various pressing issue was flawed, to say the least. The government’s insistence on unilaterally defining the problem, an expertise the RBI is more strong in, and also the remedy completely oversteps the RBI’s function and role (is it not interference) in the professional assessment and practice of economic functioning envisaged for the RBI.

The tensions and confrontations arose because the government initiated three consultation letters under the provisions of section 7. This was self-defeating as it vitiated the atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding. The very basis of the central government talking (down) to the professional RBI on the predetermined corrective regime for the weak banks, an imaginary liquidity crunch, capital adequacy norms for banks and credit to the demonetization affected micro and MSME sectors which have problems associated with major political decisions taken in the recent past. The government buckled under severe pressure for correction and inadequacy to address these politically and looked for cover-up solutions. Any ordinary citizen will know the danger of having indulged in financial splurging and then going to borrow to pay for the past sins, without even a plan to rework the revenue to repay the first and the present loan. This could be suicidal and definitely not in “public interest” This is no different.

The objective was not to find structural and financially prudent corrective solution.

The spate of loan waivers in spite of clear advises to the contrary, by RBi at various stages and times, have not been heeded by the government. The pursuance of political projects like the Bullet train and Sardar Patel statute, loan waivers etc all added up to the cumulative situation.

It is no more a secret that the government’s demonetisation resulted in the complete suction of economic activity and value from the unorganized sector (90 % of the Indian economy) and related segments like construction, housing, primarily the MSME which contributes the maximum share of productivity and employment in the country.

To salvage the real damages caused the government wants THE RBI to bail them out. They expect the RBI to bankroll with the transfer of its created reserves to such controversial items like “banks capital base”. This would change the very b=nature of the RBI functioning. It also wants to find resources outside the ambit of economic activity for its political schemes including The PM’s MSME scheme being launched tomorrow the 2 November.

The obnoxious stretching the meaning of “public interest “is frightening.

Consider the fact that the following instances. War, subprime crisis or severe balance of payments, more financially and economically serious situations in the past, did not find it necessary even to consider the invocation of section 7.

The most saddening part is the non-reading of the conditions of finality to be confirmed before government uses section 7. The government seems to take strength from a recent HC judgment. But a responsible reading of the judgment in terms of its purpose and urgency would seem to be a reminder of the government’s responsibility, and its inaction to resolve a crisis till implodes or explodes, rather than a suggestion of its use as an executive tool to promote its political necessity.

The Indian economy worked by the ordinary men and women of the country has sufficient resilience and intelligence to overcome even the consequences created by our political masters. You can count thousands of business and services by millions of our countrymen who have built successful businesses in spite of and despite the hurdles and painful policies, discriminate closure of factories and siphoning off resources.