Govt likely to consider dole for jobless poor in Budget

such as Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Chhattisgarh have similar schemes for the jobless, but it will be a first by the Centre.

Apart from funds, the exercise could face stumbling blocks because of inadequate data on India’s unemployed.

In a workforce of 480 million as on 2015, more than 85% are in the informal sector, making it difficult to calculate the exact number of people without jobs.

Economists and social security experts were divided on the scheme.

“India is a growing economy, so deficit financing can be adopted AJIT RANADE, economist

where the money for a scheme like this can be financed through borrowing. It all depends on the spending priority,” economist Ajit Ranade said.

The economic survey of 2016 pegged India’s subsidy bill at below 2% of the GDP for 201516. This was largely on account of falling global crude prices. This bill was 4.2% the previous fiscal. But this does not include the spending on education, healthcare, mid-day meals and the public distribution system.

“The rational has to be clear. Which are the subsidies that can be replaced? Fertiliser subsidy is a production subsidy and cannot be removed as it is not a consumer subsidy,” explained Pronab Sen, former chief statistician of India.

Development economists such as Jean Dreze have argued against direct cash transfers, pointing to inadequacies in the banking system. Others warn of “leakage” of money dispensed for the jobless.

Sources said the 2017 economic survey could reflect a strong pitch for UBI.

No country has adopted the UBI. Finland will start an experiment with 2,000 citizens, while Switzerland voted against it last June. Madhya Pradesh conducted a small experiment in 2011, but never implemented.

(WITH INPUTS FROM

GARIMA GARG)

“He (Ghosh) should be pelted with pebbles and kicked out of Bengal,” said the imam, who has headed the Tipu Sultan mosque for three decades.

Others in his line of fire included author Salman Rushdie, Bangladesh-born writer Tasleema Nasreen and Canadian columnist Tarek Fatheh.

Nasreen, in fact, had no less than three fatwas issued against her by Barkati: once in 2004 for her reported anti-Islamic comments, then in 2006 and again in 2007. Each time he issued a fatwa, Barkati hiked the bounty on her head.

Successive governments in West Bengal, with a Muslim population of about 30%, have chosen to ignore his seemingly incendiary acts. During the Left Front rule, he used a car with a red beacon. Since Banerjee stormed to power, Barkati has graced the stage at rallies of the Trinamool Congress.

His proximity to the ruling party has prompted the BJP to accuse Banerjee of Muslim appeasement.

“He is a stooge of the chief minister. She is using him for promoting her policy of appeasement. She will bend every law in the book to protect him,” said BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh. Even some Muslims are aghast at Barkati’s brazenness.

“Those who are issuing fatwa on political issues are abusing their positions,” said Kazi Masoom Akhtar, a Kolkata-based schoolteacher.

But Barkati insists his bluster is for the good. “I am fighting for preserving the secular character of our society and will continue to do so. Will I keep quiet when so many innocent people are under attack in the country?” he asked.

What is the source of his courage in taking on the high and mighty?

For the record, Barkati says it is the almighty who gives him protection. But the fact is Kolkata police provide him with roundthe-clock security.

But with more than `14 trillion of the `15 trillion that was scrapped back in the system, fears are that the corrupt managed to beat the system.

Gold and jewellery sales had zoomed within hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation announcement. Several jewellers and bullion traders have been issued I-T notices.

Most of the “suspicious” lockers, so far, have been reported from smaller towns, though such abuse couldn’t be ruled out in the cities as well, sources said.

Research, real-time information from multiple sources and information collected during raids helped them zero in on such accounts, sources in the department said.

Tax sleuths also don’t rule out the possibility of city residents using lockers in small towns to escape scrutiny. Several banks offer locker services to customers who do not hold accounts with them.

The Benami act allows tax authorities access to a vast data of information provided by all the major regulatory and investigating bodies, said Manoj Kumar, a managing partner with the legal firm Hammurabi and Solomon.

“After making inquiries and calling for reports and evidence within a period of 90 days of issuing the show-cause notice, the initiating officer has the power to provisionally attach the benami property, including bank lockers,” he said.

Sources said the tax department had also sought details from both private and public banks of accounts opened after November 10, the first banking day after demonetisation.

More than 6,000 notices have been sent to holders of accounts that saw suspicious transactions.

The tax department, which conducted more than 1,000 searches across the country, has referred 279 cases to the enforcement directorate while the CBI has been asked to look into 247 cases.

“He has broken the financial backbone of this country with demonetisation. This was his personal decision,” said the Congress leader, who has been at the forefront of the Opposition’s protest against the government’s move to wipe out 86% of the cash in circulation.

Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have weakened every institution in the country such as the judiciary, the Reserve Bank of India,theelectioncommissionand media, he alleged.

This was for the first time 46-year-old Congress leader chaired a big party event as Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not attend the meet.

Partyleadershailedhisinaugural as well as concluding speeches as “sharp and political, laced with wit and humour”, and set the tone for a high-voltage campaign for the February-March assembly elections in five states.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist, too said at the meet that India’s economy has gone from bad to worseafterthe500-and1,000-rupee notes were scrapped.

Gandhi mocked at Modi’s pet initiatives such as Swachch Bharat and Make in India, besides his yoga campaign. “It was a beautiful show but there was no Padmasan without which there is no yoga.”

He mimicked Modi, especially his oft-repeated reference of “Mitron (friends)”, and rephrased words from a song from Amitabh Bachchan’s Namak Halal: “Aapka toh lagta hai bas yahi sapna, ram ram japna garibo kaa maal apna (Your only dream is to take away money from poor while chanting the name of Ram)”.

“(Chief minister Parkash Singh) Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh have been saying that Punjab’s CM should be from the state. I will take on the Badals and Amarinder after AAP’s victory and recover every penny of the people’s money they have looted over the years,” he said, addressing a rally 30km from Patiala.

The AAP chief promised that Punjab’s development will be his party’s priority.

“We have prepared a blueprint of 150 projects if we form a government here,” he said and promised to tackle one the state’s topmost problems — drug abuse.

Sisodia’s statement came against the backdrop of rivals accusing the AAP’s central leadership of trying to run its Punjab unit from Delhi.

But the party dismissed the allegations, saying he was only seeking votes in Kejriwal’s name.

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who is shoulStates dering the Congress campaign, alleged that Kejriwal has sought to become the Punjab chief minister without contesting elections.

The Akali Dal too made similar remarks, saying Punjabis will never tolerate “outsider” Kejriwal as their chief minister.

(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)

During one of the many standoffs, the CM took to Twitter, saying Jung wanted to be the vice-president and was trying to please Modi.

The presidential and vice-president polls are due later this year.

Jung said Modi and even he was concerned about Muslims’ relationship with the BJP. “I believe a lot of onus lies with the Muslim community also because if youlookback,inthelast40years Muslims have not produced a leader of their community... It is a community without leaders. And their leaders today what? ...Mr Bahuguna, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav?”

A former vice chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia University, Jung said the community needed to communicate with the government but “who goes to the PM to explain their perspective”?

“Modi is concerned about this. He has expressed his concern to me that he would like to win them over but who is talking to him.”

On the contentious issue of triple talaq, Jung said Muslims should themselves discontinue the divorces practice, which was retrograde and not in the interest of women. “Parliament itself would have taken a view on this. If the Parliament doesn’t have the courage to upset the Muslim community then the courts must certainly step in.”

Religious leaders should sit together to decide on uniform civil code, Jung said, adding he was opposed to it being “rammed down somebody’s throat”.

“The unified civil code applies to all the communities; just not the Muslims. I think it is time for the community to sit together; various religious leaders to sit together and resolve this matter,” he said.

India is a growing economy, so deficit financing can be adopted where the money for a scheme like this can be financed through borrowing. It all depends on the spending priority...