‘This Is Not What We Suggested’, Says Anil Bokil, The Man Credited With The Idea Of Demonetisation

Anil Bokil - Founder Arthakranti Pratisthan

 

He is quite disappointed with the government.

 22/11/2016 1:13 PM IST | Updated 22/11/2016 2:12 PM IST

 

(Note: CCV's Isaac Gomes quotes reports from The Huffington Post and Times of India on Anil Bokil the reported brain behind Namo's surgical strike on Demonitisation).
 

Source:  THE HUFFINGTON POST 

The moment Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his 'surgical strike' on black money, another man became famous. Anil Bokil, founder of Arthakranti and part of the team that reportedly suggested the demonetisation move to curb black money became the headlines.

Bokil and his team have been pushing this for more than 16 years.

However, Bokil is not rejoicing. In fact, he is quite disappointed with the government.

"This is not what we proposed. The government has only taken one part of our five-point plan… We had a proper transition plan from large currency denominations to smaller ones," the 52-year-old told Mumbai Mirror in an interview.

He called the implementation of the demonetisation move "not well-thought-out."

Bokil's proposals included the withdrawal of the existing taxation system (barring import duties) and replacing it with a single-point transaction tax, to be deducted at source, and restricting cash transactions to Rs 2,000, which would not attract any tax.

In the interview, Bokil said that he had also proposed for demonetisation of all high currency and the Rs 2,000 note doesn't serve that purpose.

Bokil claimed that the "roadmap" his organisation gave to the government would have ensured that no chaos ensued.

"We did not expect the death we are witnessing. But the government announced the operation without using anaesthesia, so patients are bound to lose their lives," he said.

The Arthakranti leader is also of the opinion that banning the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would do little to curb the incidence of black money.

Bokil said that had his proposal been implemented, not a single person would have been affected.

 

REPORT IN TIMES OF INDIA, 22 November 2016 08:34 AM  IST

 

When demonetisation was announced and Narendra Modi was being credited with a 'surgical strike' on black money, Pune resident Anil Bokil and his think-tank –ArthaKranti Pratishthan — went to town about his nine-minute meeting with Modi in July, which stretched to two hours, and inspired the move. 

Now, when the country has been forced to queue up outside banks and mostly defunct ATMs, Bokil blames the mess on the government using his advice "selectively". He told Mirror that he was on his way to Delhi for a meeting with the prime minister on Tuesday. There was no confirmation of this from PMO, though. Here's what he has to say, on what went wrong during the 'surgical strike' on black money. 

The proposal I placed before the PM was a comprehensive one and had five aspects. However, the government chose to use only two of them. It was a sudden move, not well-thought-out. The move cannot be welcomed or rejected. We are compelled to accept it. The road map we gave the government would not have caused such pain. 

WE HAD SUGGESTED: 

1: Complete abolition of taxes, direct and indirect by the Central or State governments and also the local bodies. 

2: The taxes were to be replaced with Bank Transaction Tax (BTT), wherein every inward bank transaction would attract a levy (say about two per cent). It would be a single point tax deducted at source. – The deducted amount would go into the government kitties at various levels (Centre, State and Local, broken up in perhaps a ratio of 0.7 per cent, 0.6 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively). The concerned bank will also get a share of say another 0.35 per cent. Of course, the BTT rate would be decided by the finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India

3: Cash transactions (withdrawals) would not attract tax. 

4: All high denomination currency (anything above Rs 50) should be withdrawn. 

5: Government should create legal provision to restrict cash transactions to Rs 2,000. 

If all these were done together, it would have not only benefitted the common man but also changed the system completely. 

We did not expect the death we are witnessing. But the government announced the operation without using anaesthesia, so patients are bound to lose their lives. We have been working on this proposal for 16 years, since ArthaKranti was formed in 2000. A 16-member technical committee had come up with the proposal and guaranteed that not a single person would be affected. The move would be targeted only on eradicating black money and terrorism and also end ransom-linked crimes. It would have affected property prices and also impacted the GDP. 

Now we are also proposing to withdraw the Rs 2000 notes the government has brought in. This was just a diversion. The main operation is yet to happen. 

 

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.