Three Sides of the Triangle

First  Side :

An expert committee on household finances , commissioned by RBI and chaired by Tarun Ramdorai , made following observations :

·         Indians have a globally high 95 % of their wealth parked in physical assets ( 77 % in property , 7 % in durables and 11 % in gold ), with only 5 % in financial products

·         Focussed as they are on property investments, very few Indians are investing towards retirement , with 77 % of the households failing to plan for pensions

·         Even with vastly improved access to financial products under the PM Jan Dhan Yojana, savers shy away from financial products due to the high transaction costs, their own unpredictable income streams and lack of trust . Most household lean on informal sources for emergency loans at high costs

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SECOND  SIDE :

Times of India ( 28 Aug ) carries following report :

You may soon need to shell out less if you pay digitally

The government is looking at giving a 2 % incentive – over the applicable GST tax rate – in case of digital payments where the bill is up to Rs 2,000 , in a move aimed at discouraging cash payments

The idea is to incentivize all kinds of digital payments , especially smaller transactions , in line with the government’s plan of making India , a less cash economy

The source said the relief is being mooted for “ smaller transactions “ as these are large in numbers and are mostly preferred through the cash mode

Transactions of up to Rs 2,000 are very high in volume and if an incentive can be given here, it will provide an impetus to digital payments while also facilitating the entry of more people within the formal economy

THIRD  SIDE  :

It is indeed heartening to know that the Government is “ considering “ , a suggestion that I made 2 years ago ( and sent to the Policy Makers as email ), in my blog :

Jan  Dhan Sarjan  Yojana 

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/08/jan-dhan-sarjan-yojana.html

After 50 years of introduction of various PENSION SCHEMES ( public + private ) , we have managed to provide cover to ( approx. ) 122 Lakh subscribers of NPS / APY ( by March 2016 ) , of which , some 84 Lakh are employed in Industries / Businesses

But some 50 crore of our Citizens ( employed + self-employed ) have NO PENSION COVER , what-so-ever !

That made me suggest { 31  Aug  2015  } ,

launching of   JanDhan Sarjan Yojana 

 ( People's Wealth Creation Scheme ) as follows :

*   If GST is going to be ( say ) 20 % , Government will transfer from this ,

     2 % ( ie 10 % of that 20 % ) , to the PPF account of the Consumer /

     Buyer , who pays for the Goods / Services purchased , using a RuPay

     Card or a " Mobile Wallet " app

     This will motivate millions of self - employed to open  PPF  accounts  !

*   Since interest from a PPF account is tax-free , every citizen would , now

     want to make all payments thru RuPay card or a Mobile Wallet App

*   RuPay cards are already tied up with accounts opened under Jan Dhan

     Yojana

*   Mobile Wallets Apps will also get tied-up with thousands of branches of

     Payment Banks , which will open in next 18 months

     Just imagine the number of new accounts that will get opened in the

     1,55,000 + post offices of India Post  !

*   In this way , Social Security will become " Self Financing " !

*   Currently , in India , some 97 % of all payments are " Cash Payments ".

     With introduction of this proposal , these will drastically decline

*   Any payment made , using RuPay card or a Mobile Wallet App , will make

     available to the Income Tax Department , full digitized record of each

     such transaction , including :

     *    Who  made the payment

     *    To whom was that payment made

     *    When was that payment made

     *    For what purchase , was that payment made

     *    What was the amount paid

*   One , very desirable consequence of  Jan Dhan Sarjan Yojana

     will be that our " Domestic Savings Rate " will climb back to 30 % !

      In turn , this will help us wither global economic crisis , much better  !

Dear Shri  Arun  Jaitleyji :

My suggestion provides an opportunity to rapidly move towards a “ Less Cash Economy “

And , please do not worry about the fact that those 50 crore Indians do NOT have a PPF account ( to enable transfer of that 2 % incentive )

Our ICT ( HW / SW ) geeks are quite capable of ensuring that Jan Dhan Sarjan Software will create such an account AUTOMATICALLY / INSTANTLY , in the name of each citizen making a DIGITAL PAYMENT

And know what ?

With this in place , you would have created a PLATORM for future introduction of UNIVERSAL  BASIC  INCOME  !

 

Please , do not let this “ Once – in – a – Life Time “ opportunity slip away !

29  Aug  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Amitabh Kant ko Gussa Kyun aataa hain ?

Hindustan Times ( 28 Aug ) carries a report titled :

“ China model inspires Niti Aayog action plan “

There are 67 mentions of “ China “ and “ Chinese “ in the three year action agenda : 2017-18 to 2019-20 , prepared by the Govt Think Tank

These references relate to :

·         Special Economic Zones for job creation

·         World class Universities

·         Modern Cities

·         Communication Technology

·         Soft power

·         Manufacture for a Global Market

·         Shenzen model of urbanization

·         Role of Exports in increasing productivity, employment and wages

The Action Agenda goes on to suggest , how we can benefit by “ copying “ China – though not blindly !

I got reminded of my following earlier blogs ( sent as emails to Central Ministers / Niti Aayog ) :

·         Prakash/ Piyush / Nitin ko Kyun Gussa aata hai ?  [  12  Sept  2015  ]

     https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2015/09/prakash-piyush-nitin-ko-kyun-gussa-aata.html

=================================

·         HOWCHINA MAKES CHEAP ?  [  08  Nov  2014  ]

     https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-china-makes-cheap.html

 

=================================

·         Whenwill we learn ?  [  13  Oct  2016  ]

    https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2016/10/when-will-we-learn.html

 

=================================

·         Hypocrisy: to the Nth degree  [  13  July  2017  ]

    https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/07/hypocrisy-to-nth-degree.html 

 

 

No wonder , PM Shri Modiji , only yesterday , exhorted the Secretaries to take BOLD and FAST and HONEST decisions , to speed up the implementation of the 3 year agenda

 

But that does not stop Shri Amitabh Kant from feeling angry !

 

 

28  Aug  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

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Addendum / 30 Sept 2019

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After struggling for 3 years, Niti Aayog has developed a fairly elaborate framework for rating / ranking of various States on their " Ease of doing Business "

In the meantime, China has gone far far ahead and developed / installed " digital data compilation " of its 33 million Corporate and 1.4 Billion citizen 

On dozens of parameters , corporate and citizen are being rated / ranked and offered benefits / incentives if ranked " Good " and punished / deprived of benefits, if ranked " Bad "  !

To know the details of this " State Surveillance " system,  read :

China is Building a Corporate Social Credit Data Surveillance Architecture

  

 

 

 

Right to Sell My Soul ?

Our Constitution guarantees every citizen , following fundamental rights :

The Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to Indian citizens as follows: (i) right to equality, (ii) right to freedom, (iii) right against exploitation, (iv) right to freedom of religion, (v) cultural and educational rights, and (vi) right to constitutional remedies.

Last week , Supreme Court ruled that “ Right to Privacy “ is also a Fundamental Right ( though not specifically mentioned as such in the Constitution , but implied )

There is no mention of a citizen’s right to ROTI – KAPADA – MAKAAN  !

Nor is the Constitution specific about the PRIORITIES / RELATIVE IMPORTANCE , of these rights

For the following simple reason :

To different individuals , depending upon their education / social security and above all , their SPECIFIC PREVAILING CIRCUMSTANCES , these priorities keep changing

What would the following people say is their MOST IMPORTANT fundamental right , under their present circumstances ( - including , a right to FOOD / JOB / HOUSE or UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME ? ) :

·         Parents of 1.6 million children ( under 5 ) who die of “ malnutrition “ each year

·         400 million people under the official Poverty Line

·         100 million people sleeping on footpaths

·         17,000 farmers committing suicide , each year ( cannot repay the loans ? )

·         10.3 million Child Labour ( 70 % being girls ), working 12 hours per day

·         200 million people living in slums ( literally on top of gutters )

·         600,000 persons dying premature deaths due to air pollution

·         300,000 female sex workers , selling their bodies to feed their starving children

( this number rose by 50 % between 1997 and 2004 )

I am sure , readers can add to this list . I suspect this total will number 700 + million !

For these persons , what do you think , are the relative importance of,

·         RIGHT to PRIVACY ?

·         Right to  ROTI – KAPADA – MAKAAN  ?

Would they be happy to “ trade in “ their  “ Right to Privacy “ for a right to “ Roti – Kapada – Makaan “ , if a portal ( such as one described in my yesterday’s blog , www.PrivacyforSale.com  ) , were to enable them to earn Rs 300 per day , to feed their starving / begging children ,  by selling their Personal Information to any BUYER ?

To me , that answer is FIRMLY in the AFFIRMATIVE  !

I am not unaware of the following :

·         These people may not be able to REGISTER / UP-LOAD their Personal Data on the portal because they have no internet connected computers / smart phones

·         They may not have any bank accounts into which the Portal can deposit their earnings – and no Credit-Debit cards to withdraw cash or be worried about hack !

·         They may not have an Aadhar ID / E mail ID / Social Media presence

·         No business / industry / E-Commerce web site would be interested in “ buying “ their Personal Data , since they do not constitute for them , a “ Target / Potential Customers “ . Why bother to deliver Advertisements to them on their mobiles ?

But , I have a feeling that , all of these will change soon , what with the Central Government’s aggressive drive to “ Bridge the Digital Divide “

And these ( currently ) DIGITALLY  DEAD people may suddenly come ALIVE ( on www.PrivacyForSale.com  ) , if the government itself launches this portal ( monopoly under proposed DATA  PROTECTION  LAW  ? ), and declare this as the Authentic Data Source for deciding who will be eligible for UNIVERSAL  BASIC  INCOME

I should have a Right to Sell My Soul , in order to save my Body !

28  August  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs