The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 19

The International News Weekly EDIT
08
November 03, 2017 | Toronto
The
What went wrong with Modi’s
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m
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Rajinder Saini
Meenakshi Saini
Gursheesh
Kshitiz Dalal
Naveen
Bashir Nasir
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Canada should take in
more immigrants
Canada has done well to announce to admit
340,000 new immigrants each year from 2018
leading up to 2020. This figure is about 13
percent up from the number of immigrants
which will be admitted in 2017.
Because of its fast aging population and
falling birth rates and shortage of skilled
workers, Canada needs more and more new
immigrants.
In fact, the government’s own advisory
committee has recommended that Canada
should admit 450,000 new immigrants each
year.
It goes without saying that this country
simply cannot do without immigrants.
Immigrants not only increase the population
of this country but also bring in billions of
dollars. They are the mainstay of many sectors
today. Real estate and auto sectors bank on
newcomers to keep up their sales. The trucking
industry is so much dependent on immigrants.
Today, the Philippines, India and China are
the major sources of immigration for Canada.
Newcomers from these countries bring their
own unique strengths to Canada.
Eastern Europe and Latin America are
the two areas which can be major sources of
immigration for this country.
At present, Canadian politicians and
policymakers seem to be too obsessed with
having a proportionate number of immigrants
from different regions of the world. This may
be good for their self-imagined nice-guy image
on the global stage, but they must not forget
that some immigrants melt in quickly and add
real skill value to the system.
And there is a strong case for Canada to
ramp up the annual intake of immigrants
because soon there may not be enough lure
for skilled people in fast growing economies
of the world to leave their countries. This may
happen sooner than later.
Thought for the week
Life is like that old Spanish saying: He who
plants the lettuce doesn't always eat the salad.
~Actor Anthony Quinn
We are all aware how
well UPA-I performed
under the leadership of
Manmohan Singh. Our
progress was so fast
that whole world started
looking at India with respect.
Then came UPA-
2. Most ministers and
even the party president
became so complacent
that they allowed almost
open loot through scams
after scams. One wonders
why PM Manmohan
Singh didn’t resign.
Only history will reveal
what compulsions
forced him not to resign.
His weakness or inability
to stand up to
those scams gave rise
to BJP and PM Modi became
our leader. He was
painted a messiah by the
corporate media that everyone
believed that he
will remove corruption,
eradicate black money
and ensure progress of
the country.
Intentions of the
new bovernment were
revealed, when asked
about eradicating black
money, PM Modi’s aid
Amit Shah commented
that “well those were
the election Jhumlas”.
Most intellectuals were
disappointed by that
statement.
However, PM Modi
did take initiatives on
three most desirable reforms,
one demonetization,
two enforce GST
and lastly, Aadhaar
Card for every citizen.
Most intellectuals know
GST, Aaadhaar moves
Brig Nawab Heer and
Ms Preet Heer
that these were
desirable reforms
and were
not implemented
by the past governments
due
to pressure of coalition
parties. It was the first
time when NDA had a
majority and they could
press on with reforms.
Yes they did it and politically
it was a very bold
decision.
But let us see what
went wrong. Firstly, demonetization.
We have
been talking about lots
of black money with
many business houses
accumulated by evading
taxes and one method
suggested was to ban the
currency in which this
money was stacked. Accordingly,
the NDA Government
took midnight
decision to ban all 500
and 1000 rupees notes
and gave very little time
to react. For almost
three months the whole
country remained in
turmoil. What followed
were long lines, job
losses, orders and counter
orders, corruption
by banks, rumours, suicides,
mild protests and
uncertainty. Yet, the
whole process was completed
to the satisfaction
of the rulers. The initial
reason given for demonetization
was that it will
eradicate black money
and curb funding for
terrorism. We will keep
debating whether it was
a success or failure. But
one thing is clear that
India has entered the
digital revolution even
though people have to
pay a very high price for
that.
As for the GST, once
again the Modi government
started with good
intentions, but miserably
failed in its implementation.
As many as
232 amendments in four
months, 25 types of taxes,
32 reports to be filed
by businessmen in one
year, software not working
properly, fear, ignorance,
curse for small
business and very poorly
executed.
The government
violated the good old
military saying,”Orders
Counter Orders NO Orders.”
Exactly the same
is happening about GST
at present. All businesses
are confused, scared,
and in a state of shock.
The gamechanger "one
nation one tax" has not
lived up to expectations.
No test bed seems to
have been carried out
before implementing
a major policy change.
The software support is
also glitch-prone. The
end-user was untrained,
ill-informed and at loss
as to how the system
would work. The stringent
penalties envisaged
against evaders
also brought focus back
on 'license raj' that had
taken years to blunt. No
agency took GST payers
in confidence.
One day things will
get stabilised again, but
at a very big cost and
loss of revenue. While
Gabbar Singh Tax may
be an over-the-top statement,
there certainly is
a lot that can be done to
ease the burden on the
common man (I do not
use the term "Aam Aadmi"
as I have no political
leanings). Will Mr Jaitley
oblige the common
man?
The last issue relates
to making it compulsory
to link Aadhaar Card
with bank accounts.
Wherever you go - bank,
cell phone shop or hospital-
and everyone asks
you for Aadhaar Card
first. You get 5 to 6 messages
daily from your
banks telling you to link
your account with Aadhaar
Card by Dec 31, failing
which your bank account
may be frozen.
Experts say Aadhaar
cards are being made by
an American company
which gives no guarantee
of safety of your personal
information. It is
a blacklisted company
and there are no proper
cyber laws in India.
Some persons have gone
to the Supreme Court
against linking of Aadhaar
Cards with your
bank accounts.
Supporters of the
move say that as in many
countries Aadhaar will
ensure that the government
has can check money
laundering and terror
funding. But the manner
in which the government
is forcing people
to get it linked by 31 Dec
is creating tension, fear
and revolt in the public.
To my mind, all these
three decisions will be
beneficial for India. But
these have been implemented
without proper
planning, resulting in
confusion. Citizens are
confused, angry and
scared and feel agitated
against these decisions.
I am convinced that if
this time reforms fail in
India no political party
will talk about any reforms
for the next 100
years, like it happened
in the case of population
control launched by the
Congress government in
the seventies.
I only hope that the
NDA Government listen
to people and take
good control of smooth
implementation of GST
and Aadhaar Card with
consensus and not try
to force them down the
throats of the people.
(Brig Nawab Heer
can be contacted at
nawabheer@gmail.com)
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