In the edition of 10th November, 2016 of ‘The Statesman’ there is an observation ~ “Modi-sarkar’s expertise is limited to managing headlines”. This is surfacing more and more as the dust is settling down. Those who’ll deposit the demonetized Rs. 500 & Rs. 1000 currency notes above Rs. 1.5 lac will be booked by Income Tax for scrutiny who’ll of course have a jolt. However, there is no bar over cheque transactions and it’ll be a naïve assumption that a ‘parallel economy’ is not running on cheques. So, the black money to be surfaced by this demonetization will be ‘tip of the iceberg’. I believe the ‘terrorism’ business will easily absorb this shock so far as this is dependent on Indian currency (of course providing psychological relief) and not on Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other currencies.

Personally, I comply with Income Tax rules as I abhor being hounded by this authority if I don’t, but admire those who have the guts to face this ordeal. Otherwise, I don’t feel this divide between ‘Black’ and ‘White’ money is sacrosanct. The so-called ‘parallel economy’ run on ‘Black money’ has its profound benefit so long it boosts dynamism to the economy. Undeniably, it is at the cost of the development and public welfare projects which the Governments promote with ‘White money’. But who’ll weigh the relative social advantages yielded by these ‘parallel economies’!