Where does India's Black Money go?

Image Courtesy: globalresearch.ca

In a recent press release the Finance Minister of India, veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, said that the government could not 'name and shame' (IE 21.1.11) the high profile people who were siphoning off black money to foreign bank accounts on the pretext that it would be divulging state secret and flouting the security rules of these foreign financial agencies. Fair enough- but where is the problem in following up operations to get the $213 billion worth of siphoned off money back to Indian shores? That the colour of this money is dubious and the exact amount is in the realm of speculation (half a trillion USD according to GFIR) the common tax-paying citizens have a right to know what Mr. Mukherjee's government is doing to redeem this amount.

That an honest, hard-working and responsible citizen like myself has to pay exorbitant rates of tax- income, VAT, education, house, water, road etc etc- to pay off foreign loans and international debts, I demand to know what is happening to this huge sum of money that some 'high net worth individuals' along with corrupt politicians and private "entrepreneurs and self employed, NGOs" have stashed to avoid paying taxes to the Indian government? Shady business practices and scamming clients by using substandard material to build bridges, buildings, and railway accessories not just increases black money but also endangers thousands of innocent lives.

The term HNWI is ironic because what these colossal con artists are doing is milking the poor and the middle-class off their deserved means of livelihood. This has triggered run-away inflation and the government is trying its best to divert our attention from this issue by raking up bogus cases against humanists and people with integrity like Dr. Binayak Sen. In 63 years since independence 38% (a very conservative estimate) of our population is still below poverty line. In other words, an average family of six persons subsists on less that 40 rupees a day when the price of onions is rupees eighty a kilo. Lower middle class families buy chicken claws for three rupees each to add a dash of protein to their meals. Shame! Shame to our political leaders, shame to our HNWIs!

The USA PATRIOT Act, Title III is ripe to be enforced on NRIs who form the core of the private money laundering racket in the US. Most of these transactions have been happening for decades and such individuals who assume that they are safe and above scrutiny, need to be reported to enforcement agencies in an honest attempt to get back all this ill gotten wealth back to our country. The government has a moral right to confiscate this money as taxes that have been evaded for years. The I-Tax department will be only too happy to be able to get some of this money redeemed and add a positive thrust towards reducing extreme poverty in our country. Add to this is the chance to enhance national security by stemming the sponsorship of terrorism through these channels.

The time is right for the tide to turn and Mr. Mukherjee's government will do well to accept some responsibility for ill governance and try and repair some of the losses. Saving the face of corrupt colleagues should not be the primary task of the Manmohan Singh government but all efforts should now be made to ferret out these rats and get back the money to curb the debilitating inflation. The poor tax-payer needs saving as do the millions of people who vote these people to power.