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Revisit Population-Food-Jobs Matrix to Overcome Malthusian Pangs
- Published on 02 February 2018
(Image Courtesy: Dance of Death - World Digital Library)
India’s annual Economic Survey (ES) sees the “ghost of Malthus” on the horizon. This should alarm dream merchants who have been fooling the masses on their way to power by flaunting elusive demographic dividend.
With full respect to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessor, Dr. Manmohan Singh, this column deplores their obsession for demographic dividend. Both have failed to make any significant dent in unemployment and underemployment.
We all have to actually work for saving India from impending demographic disaster against backdrop of triple challenge. It comprises: 1) booming population, 2) agrarian crisis marked by stagnant yields, farmers’ unrest & climate change and 3) ubiquitous spread of automation with the near-arrival of driverless cars and unmanned container ships.
Citizens should thus view ES as the trigger to set a national agenda on India’s Population Bomb, Resources Crunch, Climate Change and Malthus.
Mind you, ES is not the sole official document to voice worry over India’s long-term prospects. The country’s development, when assessed on basis of per capita availability of resources, has been virtually offset by burgeoning population.
Cacophony Against Amending Constitution is Music for the Ignorant
- Published on 20 January 2018
Indian Constitution (Image Courtesy: World Digital Library)
“Look at our new constitution drafted by Dr. Ambedkar. There is nothing new in it. He has mostly copied out either the Government of India Act of 1935 or, as admitted by himself, has drawn from the constitutions of other countries. A bit from here and a bit from there - it is a Pandora’s Box…. My biggest complaint on this account is that if for the purpose of drafting a constitution he had to copy out the constitutions of other countries, then why did he not embody the latest and the best constitution?....He has retained all the bad points that he could lay his hands upon”.
Thank God. This was not an outburst from Union Minister of State for Employment and Skill Development Anant kumar Hegde. He was last month hounded out by self-styled sentinels of democracy. Mr. Hegde was forced to apologize in Parliament for hinting at a rally that BJP-led NDA Government would amend the Constitution.
The quoted harsh words were uttered by Maulana Hasrat Mohani in the Constituent Assembly (CA) on 4th November 1948. And this was neither an isolated attack on the drafted constitution nor on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chief architect of the Constitution and Messiah of Dalits.
Certain other CA members too picked holes in the Draft. A few even questioned the competence and legitimacy of non-elected CA to frame a constitution, representing ostensibly as the will of the people.
Before discussing the need of framing a new Constitution, one more quote from Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) would make discourse meaningful.
Electoral Bonds can Prove to Perfect fig leaf for Political Corruption
- Published on 11 January 2018
(Image Courtesy: PIB)
Electoral bonds (EBs) “substantially seek to cleanse” the system of political funding, exuded Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Presenting EB scheme to Lok Sabha on 2nd January 2018, Mr. Jaitley stated: “Now, the element of transparency is that the donors buy these bonds. Obviously, their balance sheets will reflect that they have bought a certain amount of bonds. Political parties will file their returns and collectively also say that this is the extent of electoral bonds that they have received. And, therefore, this will be the cleaner money coming from the donor, cleaner money coming into the hands of a political party who would have cleansed substantially the whole process”.
He added: “There would be a significant amount of transparency. Today, there is nil transparency. When the cash is given, the source of the money, the donor and where it is spent is not known. Therefore, at least now it will be known. The donor will be having an account of how many bonds he has purchased. The political party will be filing returns to the Election Commission, thereby indicating the total bonds it has received and which donor gave to which political party”.
This transparency logic is flawed as is evident from the gazette notification on EBs issued on 2nd January 2018. It says: “The information furnished by the buyer shall be treated confidential by the authorised bank and shall not be disclosed to any authority for any purposes, except when demanded by a competent court or upon registration of criminal case by any law enforcement agency”.
OECD Should Draw Line Between Good And Bad Tax Competition
- Published on 05 January 2018
It Also Needs To Craft Pact On Lobbying Regulation Law
(Edited Image Courtesy: Transparency International)
“Lobbying Frenzy Begins on Tax Bill”. “Lobbyists Swarm Congress to Protect Interests in GOP (grand old party/Republican party) Tax Bill”. “The 4 companies that lobbied most on tax overhaul — and what they got for it”. “We know more details about the final GOP tax bill - thanks to a lobbyist who sent it to a top Democratic senator”.
Such Hard-hitting headlines were splashed by the US media during November and December 2017 to highlight how legalized lobbying works for facilitating tax incentives and for blocking/delaying/diluting any potential adverse taxation.
The media coverage of Tax Reforms initiated by Trump Administration should spur debate over corporate lobbying for tax expenditures that goes across the world. Such practice also goes on in 22 countries that regulate lobbying and in other nations that don’t.
The debate is necessary to turn the torchlight on prospects of the new US law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), triggering similar tax reductions by other investment-attracting countries. The possibility of new wave of tax competition is on the horizon.