Where are the good days?

The biggest promise that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made was to bring back black money stashed in tax havens within 100 days of assuming office. Not only did he fail to keep that promise, but he made legislation to legalise black money in the just concluded budget proposals by Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister. This alarming situation speaks in a loud and clear voice that the country is not ruled by elected representatives alone, but by corporates that have an influential say in the largest democracy in the world, irrespective of the parties in power.

The proposed one per cent excise duty on gold and jewellery that was announced in the federal budget is most likely to be withdraw this time, too. The government is allowing huge concessions to precious metal dealers, who always resort to illegal profiteering in the name of ‘making charges’. On the other hand, there are strict controls in place on Non-Resident Indians (NRI) when they carry jewellery from the Gulf, where it is available at competitive prices. However, what we are witnessing these days are only a continuation of programs and policies of previous governments.

The government is practicing something entirely different from what they preached at the time of the elections.

With that in mind, we need a good manager and not a good administrator. Only a manager can feel the sufferings of the poor. If India wants to become a super power, eliminate corruption at all levels, reduce the volume of resource allocation to government employees, uplift the standard of living of poor, allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in all possible sectors, including retail and keep communalism at a safe distance. Earlier there was a promise by Modi that “good days are ahead”. So the question now is: How long should we wait to witness those good days?

— The reader is an Indian employee relations officer based in Dubai