Letters: Change is possible

With reference to Shrimi Choudhary’s report, “I-T cracks down on black money stashed abroad” (September 30), Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ridiculed for his assertion about black money. He had said in 2014 that he would try to bring back black money stashed abroad by Indians and make it available to resident Indians. To Modi’s credit, his government raised awareness about corruption and unethical practices. He somehow forgot one thing.
 
The world over, governments are “of the rich, for the rich and by the rich”. In some form or the other, the legislative process, bureaucracy and judiciary as also electoral processes are owned and managed by the rich and the powerful. All discussions by the media, analysts and activists in the social sector, including on social media, need to be seen in this perspective. This is common sense, but is usually blacked out by several sections of the media. If there is a will, there is a way to handle black money, corruption and all the ills that go with these two.

 
For a change, think of corporate social responsibility spends going up from the present two per cent to 20 or 50 per cent, India deciding to exploit its domestic assets for economic development, the judiciary deciding to fast-track pending cases and pass verdicts on them within a year of the first posting in any court and restrictions being imposed on expenditure by the government. Think of public sector undertakings and companies for fighting cases, the Centre and state governments agreeing to tax agricultural income on a par with other incomes and every holder of assets in India being required by law to declare their holdings and follow procedures applicable to every citizen. The list is illustrative.

 

Changes can happen any time and hereafter they can only be for the better. M G Warrier   Mumbai
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