Narendra Modi had claimed that every Indian bank account could be enriched with deposit of Rs. 15 lakh with retrieval of Rs. 6 lakh crore of black wealth of Indians in foreign banks. Indians are waiting for seven years for the hinted deposit in their accounts but the government is yet to locate the hoarded Indian black money outside India. Now he announced the huge package without details to utter disbelief of listeners. Even his party leaders are still groping in dark to comprehend the meaning.
The offer of aid package to revive the Indian economy after closure of virtual two months of the lock down in three stretches will be elaborated by the finance ministry in next four days and so also new form of the lock down for next two weeks. In essence he conveyed his deep concern not only for life but also for livelihood (Jan as well as Jehan).
He had surprised every Indian including those manning different departments and wings of the government with his decision for three week long lock down on March 24. The middle class, thirty per cent population, with comforts of reserves was happy to be locked down in homes as provided them safety by keeping the lower classes, constituting 60 per cent of population also locked up as possibility of breathing the air polluted by their exhaled breath. Different wings were left with responsibility of manning the system to provide sustenance to lower grades left without means of daily incomes to bring home bread for the family every day. This time also he left different wings to work out programme for revival of demands for restoration of the economy to original levels before he forced closure.
He left the administration with too much work of finalizing details of the revival plan in four days. His thirty minutes discourse on strength of Indian past may appear to be his sailing his ship on dry sands but it also indicated his urge to revive his politics to draw the world leaders to him as the leader of reviving India. He declared his intention to revive his priority of economics that he was compelled to abandon in 2016. His unprecedented political win in 2014 had brought major economic powers, America, Japan and China rushing to India. As he could not offer them room for their maneuvers, they gradually strayed away since 2016 and gradually became difficult to approach. Even NaMo was forced due to internal resistance to abandon his ideas for the rapid surge of Indian economy. Yet he came back with added numbers and attended to deal with issues to satisfy internal forces that had compelled him to divert in the first term.
He not only ended the special status to Kashmir but also ended even the status of state to Kashmir and thus deprived voters in only Muslim majority state of their right to elect their state rulers. The Supreme Court cleared the path to facilitate construction of the temple where the ramshackle structure known as the Babri Masjid stood till December 1992. His home minister even proposed to register citizens afresh with condition that every claimant would need to produce birth certificate of their parents. It caused misgivings in many minds that it was the conspiracy to deny the citizenship to many. The controversy that ensued from the move and international reactions forced Modi to publicly deny it. The first year of his second term was thus enveloped in proving his credentials of his early training philosophy.
The outcome of the Delhi assembly polls proved that the political management skills of his home minister Ameet Shah were myth, a figment of fertile imagination of the internal groups striving to build him as a parallel authority within. Before the citizenship controversy was resolved, the pandemic corona virus descended to stun everyone and immobilize them. Narendra Modi moved in rapidly to seize the nature offered advantage.
The Indian economy was sliding down hill for four years since the demonetization in November 2016. The unemployment reached the record numbers. The response of the NaMo government was of stopping publication of survey reports by the government’s Statistics wing and not in concrete measures for revival of the economy.
His measure of the Lock down to fight the pandemic has not made him popular within the ruling class and the BJP ruled states adopted a defiant posture. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister provided bus service to ferry huge number of labour returning on their feet to Bihar. It was a move in complete defiance of and in violation of the central directive that stopped all modes of transport. Yet it was hailed in the party circles as a great humanitarian approach. The Haryana government detained truck on its border adjoining Himachal that were laden with vegetable for Delhi consumers. Both the chief ministers are the Sangh nominees.
The Sangh has always claimed with pride its services of assistance to people stranded in or affected by calamities, nature induced or manmade. But it is no where visible in the corona pandemic in reaching poor with lack of food. It obviously does not want to attract attention of coming to help the NaMo regime to overcome the pandemic calamity. This background presents the new financial package in its true intention. Details become irrelevant.
THE EMPTY PACKAGE
Vijay Sanghvi - 2020-05-13 10:40
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly addressed the nation on the night of May 12, almost a week before the end of the third stretch of the Lock down in combat with the pandemic corona virus. Instead of apprising the listeners of progress in the combat, he talked of self reliance, a hall mark of the Indian civilization and its imperative need now. He ended his address with a promise of Rs. two million crore package without specific details. Instead of jubilation, it generated disbelief. One comment that went viral on social media pointed out that he had put a cap on Rs. fifteen lakh earlier and now he wrapped pajama around Indians but without tier in their hands.