{"id":169,"date":"2019-03-13T12:36:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T12:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/?p=169"},"modified":"2019-04-20T10:40:51","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T10:40:51","slug":"agenda-2019-part-3-prime-minister-modis-first-five-year-tenure-turning-point-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kamalsandesh.org\/blogs\/agenda-2019-part-3-prime-minister-modis-first-five-year-tenure-turning-point-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Agenda 2019 \u2013 Part \u2013 3 : Is Prime Minister Modi\u2019s First Five Year Tenure a Turning Point on Corruption?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arun Jaitley<\/strong><\/p>\n

The situation till May, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

India was considered, by both domestic and international investors, as one of the most corrupt nations in the world.\u00a0 India\u2019s credibility on the issue of corruption was at the rock bottom.\u00a0 The banking system had been siphoned-off during the UPA by those who benefitted from \u2018phone banking\u2019.\u00a0 India had one of the lowest taxation bases in the world.\u00a0 Evasion was not considered morally or commercially imprudent.\u00a0 It was a normal business practice that the promoter\u2019s equity in a new project would be \u2018manufactured\u2019 from the bank debt and then round-tripped either through the Mauritius route or Kolkata shell companies.\u00a0 Spectrum, mineral and other largesse were delivered on the strength of ministerial discretions.\u00a0 Rent-seeking was an established norm.\u00a0 Cash was the preferred mode of political funding.\u00a0 Many found it convenient to keep assets abroad, particularly in tax havens.\u00a0 Most defence transactions were tainted by middlemen close to the power centres.<\/p>\n

From the Bofors gun deal to the HDW Submarine purchases, the Airbus transaction, the Augusta Westland deal, the fertilizer scam, the footprints of the Indian National Congress and its leaders were everywhere.<\/p>\n

The turning point<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Modi\u2019s five year tenure will be regarded by future political historians as a turning point where a movement to free India from corruption began.\u00a0 The Government and its Ministers have conclusively proved that it is possible to run an honest Government in India.\u00a0 Not a single charge of any substance has been made against the Government.\u00a0 Frustrated with the clean image of the Prime Minister and his Government, the Congress leaders resorted to fake allegations but were snubbed both by the Courts and the CAG.\u00a0 The message loud and clear to all is that a \u2018new normal\u2019 has now been established in India.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t pay back the banks, you will be out of management.\u00a0 If you escape out of the country, you will be extradited back.\u00a0 If you indulge in round-tripping, you will be found out.\u00a0 Lakhs of shell companies have been closed down.\u00a0 International treaties have been re-written.\u00a0 The Mauritius, Cyprus and Singapore routes which enabled round-tripping, have been closed down.\u00a0 Treaties have been entered with various countries for a real-time exchange of information with regard to assets held by Indians abroad.\u00a0 Ministerial discretions have been abolished.\u00a0 The spectrum, coal mines and other minerals are now allocated through a market mechanism.\u00a0 So are Government contracts.\u00a0 The Government maintains an arm\u2019s length distance from the IBC process in the NCLT.\u00a0 The new promoters are decided by the Committee of Creditors through a transparent bidding process.\u00a0 There has not even been a whisper of allegations that in any of these cases political interference has taken place.<\/p>\n

India is today building ten thousand kilometres of National Highways per year.\u00a0 Not one contract has been impugned having been allotted on any collateral consideration.\u00a0 New airports are being allocated by tendering processes.\u00a0 The Government has even formulated a scheme to ensure that even political funding through electoral bonds is done by tax paid money.<\/p>\n

Where are the middlemen?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to May, 2014, Delhi was a city flooded with middlemen.\u00a0 They have been rendered jobless.\u00a0 Some have escaped the country.\u00a0 The corridors of North Block and Udyog Bhawan, which were flooded with businessmen and industrialists, are today vacant.\u00a0 As a Finance Minister, not a single person till date has approached me for file pushing.\u00a0 The message is clear \u2013 this Government works.\u00a0 It cannot be pushed.\u00a0 The Prime Minister told the bankers in 2015 that not a single call will come to him from either South Block or North Block.\u00a0 We have lived upto that promise.\u00a0 The bank boards have now professionals on them.\u00a0 The days of loan pushers on bank boards are over.\u00a0 All senior executives, CEOs of Public Sector Banks are now appointed through a professional mechanism of the Bank Board Bureau.<\/p>\n

The impact on Ease of Doing Business<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Environment Ministry was the hub of all corruption.\u00a0 Files were stacked on tables and not cleared indefinitely.\u00a0 Files even travelled with some Ministers.\u00a0 Today, all applications are online.\u00a0 The permission are granted or refused online.\u00a0 There is no scope for pushing files.\u00a0 It is not without reason that India\u2019s rating for Ease of Doing Business have improved from a horrible 142 to 77.\u00a0 Last year the largest single improvement was done in the matter of building and construction permits.\u00a0 The new byelaws framed by the Government and adopted by most municipalities now provide for an online grant of building permits and permissions to be done within a definite period of time.<\/p>\n

The use of technology in taxation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the municipalities, the taxation department was notorious for harassment and corruption.\u00a0 On the direct tax front, returns are now filed online, queries are addressed online and assessment orders are passed online.\u00a0 Even the refund are communicated and delivered online.\u00a0 This year 99.6 percent of all personal income-tax returns filed have been accepted as they are.\u00a0 The CBDT is now working on a project where returns would be assessed and orders delivered within days of the return being filed. There is no interface between the assessing officer and the assessee.\u00a0 Assessees no longer know the name of their assessing officer.\u00a0 They do not send him gifts.\u00a0 The GST has been designed to give the benefit of input credit.\u00a0 This necessarily involves the inputs being purchased from registered dealers or through banking transactions.\u00a0 This is leading to a more gradual formalisation of the economy.\u00a0 For the first time, we have had a Government for five years which has not increased any taxes.\u00a0 On the contrary, it has reduced many taxes and yet significantly increased the tax base and the tax collections.\u00a0 This has enabled greater spending for defence, poverty alleviation and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The Kumbh (2019) vs the Commonwealth Games (2010)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A textbook illustration is a comparison between recently concluded Kumbh at Prayagraj and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.\u00a0 The Commonwealth Games are remembered more for corruption than for the number of medals India won.\u00a0 Projects were delayed; many were incomplete even when the games came to a close.\u00a0 There was mass scale corruption.\u00a0 Many went to jail and their criminal cases are still pending.<\/p>\n

The Kumbh 2019 is an excellent illustration of how public funds are effectively and honestly used.\u00a0 A total amount of Rs.4200 crores has been spent.\u00a0 Eight kilometres of ghats, 1.2 lakh toilets, residential camps, pandals to house twenty-four crore pilgrims have been constructed besides improving the city infrastructure.\u00a0 All of 683 projects were completed in time.\u00a0 This year\u2019s Kumbh is regarded as the best ever organised.<\/p>\n

The Direct Benefit Transfer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former Prime Minister, the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi had stated that only fifteen percent of the amount released by the Central Government reaches the beneficiaries.\u00a0 Corruption consumes the balance 85 percent.\u00a0 The Centre would transfer money to the State.\u00a0 The State would send to the money to the Collector, who would then use the machinery of the Tehsildar and the Panchayat Head to handover the State support to the beneficiary.\u00a0 There was pilferage all the way.\u00a0 Aadhar as a unique identity has ensured Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which ensures that payments under hundreds of scheme reached the bank of the beneficiary straightway without middlemen.\u00a0 The money is then used by the ultimate beneficiary.<\/p>\n

What is the methodology that the Prime Minister and his Government framed to ensure this moral transformation of India?<\/p>\n