 "Don't mislead Parliament: Oppn punches hole in govt's claims on bad loans, black money")
The Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) questioned the Narendra Modi government’s claims on a crackdown on ‘black money’ and also highlighted its poor record on recovering bad loans, or non-performing assets (NPAs), of the banking sector.
Arun Shourie, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, told news channel NDTV thee government failed to anticipate the distress its decision would cause in remote areas. Asked if demonetisation was a bold move, Shourie said jumping into a well or committing suicide is also radical. A minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Shourie said a beginning could have been made by reforming the tax administration.
Jaitley had said the bad loans continued to be on the books of the bank, which would continue to make efforts to recover it. But Yechury, quoting former Reserve Bank deputy governor K C Chakrabarty, said there was no incentive for banks to pursue recovery of a bad loan if it was no longer on the balance sheet. The CPI (M) chief advised Jaitley to read RBI guidelines on the issue.
Yechury said the Modi government’s efforts to recover bad loans were poor. The conviction rate for loan defaulters was a mere 1.45% in 2014-15, which further declined to 1.14% in 2015-16.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said the government move would impact the rural economy for the next 12 months. He said the Modi government, according to a reply to a question in Parliament, had recovered Rs 1.25 lakh crore of black money in the past two years. Ramesh said the Congress-led UPA government’s record was better; it unearthed Rs 1.31 lakh crore in its last two years.
Ramesh also questioned the government claim that demonetisation is largely aimed at checking fake currency.
He said fake currency was not more than Rs 500 crore or 0.02 per cent of total black money. The two parties also said the government had mismanaged the situation. Its confusion was apparent in the way it had repeatedly changed the exchange limit of currency notes and its failure to recalibrate ATMs.
Shourie said the PM was carried away by a big idea and got into a self-image that he needed some or the other ‘surgical strike’. “They have got into this cycle of surgical strike business,” he said. Earlier also a Modi government critic, he said demonetisation was akin to wielding an axe to remove a mosquito on your nose. “You have to do a lot more on black money…I am all for it but this is not the way to go about it,” he said.
Arun Shourie, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member, told news channel NDTV thee government failed to anticipate the distress its decision would cause in remote areas. Asked if demonetisation was a bold move, Shourie said jumping into a well or committing suicide is also radical. A minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, Shourie said a beginning could have been made by reforming the tax administration.
Jaitley had said the bad loans continued to be on the books of the bank, which would continue to make efforts to recover it. But Yechury, quoting former Reserve Bank deputy governor K C Chakrabarty, said there was no incentive for banks to pursue recovery of a bad loan if it was no longer on the balance sheet. The CPI (M) chief advised Jaitley to read RBI guidelines on the issue.
Yechury said the Modi government’s efforts to recover bad loans were poor. The conviction rate for loan defaulters was a mere 1.45% in 2014-15, which further declined to 1.14% in 2015-16.
Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said the government move would impact the rural economy for the next 12 months. He said the Modi government, according to a reply to a question in Parliament, had recovered Rs 1.25 lakh crore of black money in the past two years. Ramesh said the Congress-led UPA government’s record was better; it unearthed Rs 1.31 lakh crore in its last two years.
Ramesh also questioned the government claim that demonetisation is largely aimed at checking fake currency.
He said fake currency was not more than Rs 500 crore or 0.02 per cent of total black money. The two parties also said the government had mismanaged the situation. Its confusion was apparent in the way it had repeatedly changed the exchange limit of currency notes and its failure to recalibrate ATMs.
Shourie said the PM was carried away by a big idea and got into a self-image that he needed some or the other ‘surgical strike’. “They have got into this cycle of surgical strike business,” he said. Earlier also a Modi government critic, he said demonetisation was akin to wielding an axe to remove a mosquito on your nose. “You have to do a lot more on black money…I am all for it but this is not the way to go about it,” he said.