Which money is white,Mr.Prime Minister?
Palash Biswas
Way back in 2005,I had decided to purchase a three room apartment built on my late journalist friend Mahendra Srivastav.The promoter informed me that I had to pay just Rs.Eight lac only and he would manage the bank loan.I had no cash in hand and was planning to get personal loan which turned to be rather a Herculean task as no bank was ready to pass personal loan for a scribe in Kolkata.However,some friends specifically DSB old boy Rajiv Kumar assured me that there would not be any problem whatsoever as they were ready to help me with the booking amount.I was planning to draw some amount from my PF to pay back them.
Meanwhile,the promoter asked me about my plan to pay Rs One Lac in black.I never earned anything but my wage.I was getting a handsome amount regularly for my writing which stopped as soon as I started to write against open market economy and economic reforms in nineties.Being a sub editor of a low graded of a national daily,I had no way to save as I faced several emergencies including my wife`s open heart surgery.I informed the promoter that I may pay only in white as I may not get the black money.I could not manage to get a piece of land either.
The latest status around my locality is that two room apartments do cost Rs.Fifty lac.Even in a remote island like Ganga Sagar no land is available which is spared from the clutches of builders and promoters.
Hence,just after my retirement I would have no shelter to rest in and it would be very tough to sustain ourselves as both me and my wife are diabetic and have to spend a lot on medical expenses.
In a world just on fire and ruled by promoters,my purse would not allow me to have a home just because I have no black money.
Economic Times focused on Black money today in its Sunday editions.I am quoting relevant articles to expose the meat of the problem which is rather showcased as cakewalk in continuous election campaign of the Indian Prime Miniser.
In the clamour for recovering black money stashed abroad, bigger scourges have received less attention - the way parties finance themselves, shady real estate deals & opaque shell company operations.
There are other methods to siphon black money out of the country, two of which are manipulation of export invoices and setting up of trusts abroad.
The only ones who can afford a house are not the salaried class but traders and dubious buyers who have a steady flow of black money.
ET concludes quite interestingly:Between 2001 and 2005, real estate in India boomed. Interest rates were low, housing was affordable and first-time buyers were entering the market. One could understand a bump-up in prices then. But between 2009 and 2013, something strange happened. Despite the fact that there wasn't a great wave of buying from first-time buyers, prices went upwards sharply. Most of this was fuelled by investors who invested in the premium and luxury segments and most of them involved black money transactions.
Read more at:
My readers would remember,I always have written about free flow of capital and foreign investment referring it to the wide open floodgates of recycled black money.
The development so much so hyped as infrastructure is in reality all about promoter builder and mafia raj.
Hitherto, no scam is decoded and the economic criminal have been elevated to such a highiet that they are immuned to any trial or investigation.
The roots of Black money have always been defended and it has become the green revolution.
The constitution of India has become irrelevant and every constitutional provision to amount as safeguards for helpless Indian citizens have been mutilated breaking the framework of the constitution.Parliamentary democracy has become a mockery as market and private parties have hijacked the parliamentary democracy.
No one represts the citizens of India.No public hearing.Private parties have the final say and minimum governace is meant nothing but intensive corporate lobbying and mandat is managed by foreign investment.
No wonder, as probe into suspected black money stashed abroad by Indians gathers steam, banks in Switzerland are running from pillar to post to safeguard their interest while some are also considering financial provisions in their books for possible penal actions and legal costs.
At the same time, banks are also lobbying with the Swiss government to insist on putting in place necessary measures in their information-exchange and administrative assistance frameworks with India for safeguarding the interest of banking institutions during the subsequent prosecution and other legal or regulatory proceedings in the black money cases. Sources, however, said that the role of some banks, as also that of certain bankers, has already come under scanner for acting in concert with the suspected black money hoarders and also for making 'safe haven' promises for their funds.
The suspected lapses on the part of at least three large European banks, including two from Switzerland itself and the third having a significant presence in the Alpine nation, are also being probed for allegedly facilitating re-routing funds of certain Indian corporate houses back into their listed companies as foreign investments. Capital market watchdog Sebi is probing at least three large global banks and many Indian companies for alleged round tripping of funds by way of multi-layered transactions, while the regulatory noose has further tightened in these cases with involvement of other regulatory and enforcement agencies.
Such transactions are suspected to have taken place in case of 15-20 Indian companies, a senior official said, but refused to disclose their names as also that of the banks saying it might impede the investigations. Some portfolio managers at some banks, which have a significant presence in the Indian financial markets, could have helped clients route money back into the country as foreign funds using investment vehicles across jurisdictions. So far, the focus of this Supreme Court monitored probe has mainly remained on the persons and entities from India suspected to have stashed illicit wealth in overseas locations including Swiss banks.
However, as the probe moves further, including by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with two former Supreme Court judges as chairman and vice-chairman along with members from various investigative and regulatory agencies, the banks are turning wary about possible action against them going ahead. Senior executives at various banks, including three large ones headquartered in Switzerland and the Swiss units of some major European banks, said that they are considering making financial provisions as anticipatory measures to deal with any action involving them in India's black money probe. The banks are also said to be lobbying with the Swiss government that it should ask the Indian authorities to put in place a 'settlement' mechanism to deal with the suspected entities, including the banks and their customers, before seeking any assistance in its black money probe.
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