From the day India got its freedom,every government ensured launching of new schemes with lucrative names. ‘Garibi Hatao’ was an election winning slogan but the matter ended there only. India was projected as a country of snake charmers and beggars. Despite 4 decades of power, the benefits never reached to the last person. In 1985 while visiting drought-affected districts in Odisha, then PM Rajiv Gandhi said that of every rupee spent by the government, only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary.
In 1948 a helpless prime minister lost a big part of Kashmir to Pakistan; a few decades later another remained a helpless witness to corruption under his nose. This failure led to his government suffering heavily on account of charges of corruption. Bofors deal became a synonym for corruption. The pain is that the investigative agencies failed to prosecute.
The nation saw the ‘ vote for Note’ scam of 1993 where CBI alleged that MPs had taken bribes to vote in parliament. As if this was not enough the top court by a 3:2 majority decided that MPs who took the bribe and voted in the House could not be prosecuted as they enjoyed immunity under Article 105(2) of the Constitution. It is only now that this controversial decision is being revisited by a larger bench.
“The Supreme Court on Monday notified a seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud to decide on the validity of a controversial 1998 decision that allowed lawmakers who receive bribes to cast a vote or make a speech in the legislature to go scot-free”. HT sep 26 2023.
All of this changed when the present PM declared in public “ Na khaunga, Na khane dunga” which means neither I will be a part of corruption nor will I allow anybody to do so. The present opposition cry foul about Ambani and Adani ki sarkar but the nation knows well
That was the initial months of the NDA government. The Middlemen were everywhere to be seen influencing policy making but in a short time the NDA government came heavily on corruption.
“Petroleum Ministry document leak: Caught in corporate espionage case, Reliance Industries, Essar, Cairn India, R-ADAG.
Cracking down Reliance Industries (RIL), Essar, Cairn, RADAG on a suspected case of corporate espionage, Delhi Police arrested two Oil Ministry officials, RIL staffer and two other middlemen…” PTI Delhi Feb 15 th 2015.
This was the beginning and many changes took place thereafter which made government schemes effective, viable and rewarding. We will examine these initiatives and how it helped which scheme.
Linking subsidies beneficiaries with their adhar cards.
Direct Benefit Transfer Schemes.
Government of India launched the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Program on 1st Jan 2013 to directly transfer the benefits to the under-privileged population covered under 34 central schemes. With the DBT program, GoI made payments directly into the Aadhaar linked bank accounts of the end beneficiaries, removing any malpractices from the existing system such as diversions and duplicate payments.
The primary aim of this Direct Benefit Transfer program was to bring transparency and terminate pilferage from distribution of funds sponsored by the Central Government of India. In DBT, benefits or subsidies would be directly transferred to the citizens living below the poverty line. Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS), being implemented by the Office of Controller General of Accounts acted as the common platform for routing DBT. CPSMS can be used for the preparation of beneficiary list, digitally signing the same and processing of payments in the bank accounts of the beneficiary using the Aadhaar Payment Bridge of NPCI.
This was the difference between the previous government and the present one; the aadhar card was initiated by the UPA government but it lacked the will to implement such measures and suffered policy paralysis. The new government under Present PM attacked corruption headon .
“Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) through Jan Dhan accounts, totalling up to Rs 34 lakh crore, have translated into savings of Rs 2.7 lakh crore for the government”
Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitharaman stated in her budget speech.
How it worked
i) Aadhaar based DBT ensures that nobody else can claim benefits by impersonating anybody else.
ii) In case of cash transfers, the money reaches directly to DBT enabled bank accounts of genuine beneficiaries.
iii) Benefits under different schemes for which the beneficiaries have enrolled, are transferred only to DBT enabled bank accounts .
The journey was never smooth. The mafia tried very hard to stop implementation through the legal process. It took the intervention of the Supreme Court to clear the deck when a 5 member constitution bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of The Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016 (Hereafter, Aadhar Act) in a 4:1 judgment.implementation of MGNREGA v became smooth.
How it helped governments benevolent schemes
● On one hand the middlemen were eliminated.
● Beneficiary got full benefit.
● The Government saved a huge amount as stated by the Finance minister in her speech.
“The 9 years of Pradhan mantri Jan Dhan Yojna,led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionized financial inclusion in India. It is heartening to note that more than 50 crore people have been brought into the formal banking system through the opening of Jan Dhan Accounts. Among these accounts, approximately 55.5% belong to women, and 67% have been opened in Rural / Semi-Urban areas. The cumulative deposits in these accounts surpass ₹2 lakh crore. Furthermore, about 34 crore RuPay cards have been issued to these accounts without charge, which also provides for a ₹2 lakh accident insurance cover.”
PIB 28 AUG 2023 New Delhi.
On one hand leakages were plugged on the other hand banks got extra 2 lac crores. 50 crore people were provided access to banking services. Today India leads the world in digital transactions.
Managing deadlines
Had these 50 crore accounts not opened in record time everything else would have collapsed. To make it possible many reforms took place. The accounts were opened with zero balance using an adhar card as proof. Many doubts were raised and the most attacking one was from former prime minister who said,
“Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too criticized the progress of Jan Dhan, saying the Modi government has forced banks to open crores of accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana, which remain unutilised. “All he (Modi) achieved in these two years is forcing crores of people to open bank accounts. But people are asking what they will do with bank accounts when they have nothing to keep in the bank,” he said referring to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.”(Firstpost 8 April 2016.)
While few others said that it will increase the burden of banks for no gain. All these people have to eat their words!
While great thinker and management guru C.K Prahalad wrote his famous book ‘The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid ‘ to impress upon Low-income markets present a prodigious opportunity for the world’s wealthiest companies — to seek their fortunes and bring prosperity to the aspiring poor. The Indian government has created a case study in nation building using inspiring crores of poor jan dhan accounts holders.
Use of technology in monitoring projects
One of the senior public sector oil company executives once told me that their pipeline laying project from sea port to the refinery was being monitored using satellite pictures, the same was being done for measuring afforestation or construction of water bodies and other works under other schemes. Digital payments have improved tax compliance. Rural electrification, roads to every village, toilet for every home and cooking gas connection to the poor are important success stories.
Highways multiplied manifold
Surface transport minister revolutionized the way India was building roads. Many smart cities could see the light of day. Lacs of pravasi workers who went to village during Covid endemic never returned as they got job opportunities in their own village. He has invited projects from state governments with land acquisition promising them that money will not be the issues
Demonetisation 2016
This highly disputed and legally challenged move proved a master stroke in curbing black money and making it difficult to fund antisocial/anti national activities. Even though there is no data available to directly relate these two, one can visualize reduction in these activities post demonetisation. People will be forced to convert the money they were hoarding. Financial trails were created.
Fake currency under circulation was flushed out and fake currency printed outside India became redundant. This matter is so deep that a book is needed to expose the whole truth. The supplier to RBI was also supplying Pakistan as well. Here a small headline is good enough to expose the conspiracy.
“CBI books ex-finance secretary Arvind Mayaram for 'corruption' in supply of currency notes' security thread”. (PTI Jan 12, 2023.)
As per above news CBI registered a preliminary enquiry in 2018 on a complaint from the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance.
Investing agencies were empowered to deal with corruption effectively.
Enforcement directorate and other investigative agencies have been regularly unearthing violations of fema and Anti money laundering rules as well as hoarding of cash beyond permissible limits. Thousands of fake NGOS were identified busting the anti national network.
“14,500 NGOs banned under FCRA Act from receiving foreign funds” (PTI Dec 4 2019.)
Forced retirement of corrupt or inefficient
public servants.
The central government came heavily on officers falling under the above category and used its special power to retire 12 such officers in June 2019. This decision was challenged but delhi high court settled the matter,
"There Cannot Be Compulsory Retirement Proof Employee": Delhi High Court Denies Relief To IRS Officer; Cites 'Doctrine Of Pleasure' Nupur Thapliyal livelaw.in.
The Delhi High Court denied relief to Ashok Kumar Aggarwal,IRS observing that there cannot be a 'compulsory retirement proof employee'. It was also observed that the fundamental source of compulsorily retiring an employee of the Government is derived from "Doctrine of Pleasure".
Protecting Indian borders.
These schemes and infrastructure development has helped India to secure its borders as well. The time gap between China and India in moving forces and weapons to borders was huge. With improved railways network and building of roads in difficult terrains using all weather tunnels have turned the table. In recent standoff at Doklam in Ladakh area not only forces but prime minister and defense minister could reach these places to give a befitting reply to every misadventure.
Conclusion.
The benevolent schemes have worked wonders, infrastructure improved, projects. Roads, airports, railway tracks, hospitals delivery of services have improved due to elimination of corruption, improving efficiency and punishing the corrupt. Hundreds of redundant laws have been scrapped. Processes have been simplified.These reforms have improved the rating given to India on account of ease of doing business. It has improved foreign direct investment (FDI). It empowered the government with more resources to dole out benevolent schemes. The empowered poor people have again empowered the government with huge savings in Jan Dhan accounts. The journey has just started yet we have taken over many large economies and India is on path to become a fully developed nation.
By Rakesh kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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