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The books that Mattered to India’s Independent Publishers in 2016

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Never mind the corporate publishing houses and their profit-and-loss accounts.

The books that mattered to India’s independent publishers in 2016
Image credit:  Wikimedia Commons

 
 

For the past two years, both inspired by and perhaps as a counter to The Guardian’s list of literary hits and misses, author Eloise Millar has been publishing for an alternative list – one that invites the “small press” world of independent publishing to share their picks of three books: one that “made their year”, one “that should have done better”, and “the book they wished they had published”.
Here’s an Indian version, all the more important in a business dominated by big-name and big-money publishers:

Urvashi Butalia, co-founder, Zubaan Books

The book that made my year:
For us, it was a book written by five young Kashmiri women, all in their twenties. It’s titled Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? It’s a book that revisits the 1991 Kunan Poshpora rape case where the Army was involved in the mass rape of women in the two villages of Kunan and Poshpora in Kashmir. In 2012, after watching the coverage of the December 16 rape in Delhi, these five girls (some of whom weren’t even born at the time of the first incident) began to ask themselves how it was that a single rape in Delhi could cause a nationwide protest but when rape happened in their backyard, no one bothered.
They then decided to file a petition in the courts for reopening the case, and got in touch with us to say they wanted to write the story of Kunan Poshpora but did not know how to, and they came to Delhi and we did an intensive writing workshop for them, and voila, nine months later, they had written the book. We’re truly proud of this book for all these reasons and also because it opens up a case and asks for accountability and justice for the survivors. In all senses, this is a Zubaan book!
Our book that deserved to do better:
Two books that we feel did not get enough attention despite being absolutely wonderful books. One, the award-winning novel (it won the Hindu Lit for Life award, defeating works by Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri and others), When The River Sleeps by Easterine Kire. Despite being a stunning and moving novel, it hardly got any reviews and even after winning the award, the media did not give it much attention (this is a problem we independents face all the time).
And the second is a book called A Life in Trans Activism by Revathi, a trans woman. Revathy’s book is a serious consideration of what it means to live life as a trans person, and of what it means to be marginalised even within that category, so she looks at the lives of trans men, which is an experience that is so seldom addressed. Neither got any review coverage – Revathy’s book for example did not get one review, it only had a couple of extracts – and this is so strange given how much interest there seems to be in the issue of sexuality and identity.
I wish I’d published:
If you allow us to dream, maybe our answer would be something like Elena Ferrante’s My Beautiful Friend or Mona El Tahawy’s Headscarves and Hymens, both books that deal with marginalisations of different sorts – one, the marginalisation of poverty, and the other, of religion. But this is just a pipe dream. Of Indian books, there are many and it’s difficult to choose, but in general, as independents, we lose a number of authors to the big guns every year. The moment an author becomes known, they’re whisked away, given big advances and that’s that. So perhaps my answer to that question is, we wish we had published all the ones that got away!

Arpita Das, co-founder, Yoda Press

The book that made my year:
First Hand: Graphic Non-fiction from India was a dream project that took three years of hard work to come together and made a real splash, in terms of visibility as well as sales.
Our book that deserved to do better:
A Requiem for Pakistan: The World of Intizar Husain is a significant contribution to the rather thin corpus in India of works on writers in Indian languages, and deserves more visibility. It’s the sort of book that will become recommended reading while also being a constant on the bedside of all lovers of Urdu literature.
I wish I’d published:
Rana Ayyub’s The Gujarat Files (self-published) – for the author’s admirable audacity and the book’s brave thumbs down to the powers that be of Gujarat.
 

S Anand, co-founder, Navayana

The book that made my year:
Riddles in Hinduism: The Annotated Critical Selection is Navayana’s annotated edition of BR Ambedkar’s posthumous work that demolishes all that Hinduism holds dear. “The Vedas are a worthless set of books. There is no reason either to call them sacred or infallible,” writes Ambedkar. Kancha Ilaiah penned a brilliant introduction to it. Published on the occasion of Babasaheb’s 125th anniversary, this book did rather well for us in terms of sales though the reviewers behaved like it did not exist. The Shiv Sena had sought to ban this book in 1987 when it was first published.
Our book that deserved to do better:
To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum. This work by Nathaniel Roberts has been heralded by reviewers abroad as one of the finest cultural anthropologies from India in the past hundred years. A study of a slum in North Chennai and how conversion works, To Be Cared For goes far beyond what someone like Katherine Boo offers in Beyond the Beautiful Forevers. When the RSS and BJP insist on Ghar Wapsi and reconversion, this book is a timely reminder of what really happens on the ground. Yet this work was shockingly ignored by our media.
I wish I’d published:
Malika Amar Shaikh’s I Want to Destroy Myself (Published by Speaking Tiger), a memoir translated from the Marathi by Jerry Pinto. Having published Namdeo Dhasal’s poetry years ago, I had always been intrigued by how Malika published and soon withdrew this autobiography in the Marathi version. It took to Dhasal’s death for this fine translation to happen. I think it is one of the most important books published in 2016.

Ritu Menon, co-founder, Women Unlimited

The book that made my year:
The books that do well for us are the ones that are constants – in fiction, Qurratulain Hyder and Ismat Chughtai, whose new book, The Three Innocents & Ors we have just published, and in non-fiction, Vandana Shiva, whose latest book, Who Really Feeds the World? will probably be our best selling non-fiction title in 2017. We try and publish books that will do well over the years, not just for a year or two.
Our book that deserved to do better:
The book that should have done much better is the Palestinian writer Suad Amiry’s My Damascus, her account of a city and a country that are under siege now, but are so important historically. Amiry combines personal history and political history to create a compelling narrative for our times.
I wish I’d published:
The book I would have liked to publish is A Book of Light (Published by Speaking Tiger). The anthology edited by Jerry Pinto of first person accounts by a diverse group of writers on grappling with mental health situations, either their own or of people close to them. It’s poignant, beautifully written and unusual. Kudos to Jerry for being able to get people to write about this difficult topic.

Sayoni Basu, director, Duckbill

The book that made my year:
The Dhanak novelisation by Anushka Ravishankar based on the screenplay by Nagesh Kukunoor. As far as we know, this is one of the very few movie novelisations of Indian films. The film is very life affirming and the novel is exceedingly fun. It was interesting to work on a collaborative project like this. And a new movie by Nagesh and a new book by Anushka are both cause for celebration.
Our book that deserved to do better:
Invisible People by Harsh Mander, who talks in this book about the people we do not see. In a world where middle-class kids often have little awareness of and empathy for people who are different, this is a book we believe should be widely read.
I wish I’d published:
Dear Mrs Naidu by Mathangi Subramanian (Published by Young Zubaan). It’s extremely well written story of a young girl and her fight to save her school.

Shobit Arya, founder, Wisdom Tree

The book that made my year:
The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India’s Foreign Policy, Edited by Anirban Ganguly, Vijay Chauthaiwale, Uttam Kumar Sinha. There was wonderful synergy with the editors and great respect for what we all brought to the table. The book, with contributions by global experts, was presented to the prime minister, who gave enriching feedback. Needless to add, it has been a success, has seen several international launches, and was reprinted within a month of its release.
Our book that deserved to do better:
What Will Leapfrog India in the Twenty-first Century, edited by Surendra Kumar
The book has contributions by acclaimed individuals like NR Narayana Murthy, Sam Pitroda, MS Swaminathan, Soli Sorabjee and several others, with some extremely valuable ideas. While I do agree that it could have been a better book had the editor in this case managed to, or not stopped us from, extracting more intellectually stimulating content from the contributors, yet, even in its present form, the book deserves to do better.
I wish I’d published:
An Era of Darkness by Shashi Tharoor (Published by Aleph Book Company). It is the proverbial “Why didn’t I think of it” books, especially because we have published Tharoor too, and he is not just an exceptional author but is exceptionally professional as well – in fact, as good as they come.

Gita Wolf, founder, Tara Books

The book that made my year:
Knock! Knock! by Kaori Takahashi –described as book architecture at its best, this is a book for children that follows a little girl searching for her lost toy…and visiting many homes in her apartment block in the process. Translated into eight languages, it was a delight to work on, publish, and now relish, considering how many publishers have sought to co-publish it. You can see how the book works here.
Our book that deserved to do better:
Since many of our books this year have not been out for too long, I don’t want to take a call on how well they’ve done or not done yet. But there are two books that I really wish that had done better, both published a year or so ago: Tree Matters, by Gangubai, which features the world of trees as Bhil people understand them, and The Boy Who Speaks in Numbers, by Mike Masilamani, which is an illustrated book on the Sri Lankan civil war, as seen through the eyes of a differently-abled child.
I wish I’d published:
One of the things I wished we had done or could do are books that feature stunning photos and essays on wildlife – like the ones published by the Tamil publishers, Thadagam. They bring out a Tamil magazine called Kaadu, and I’ve often longed to put some of those pieces, with their photographs, into a book that could go into our Environmentalism list. This year, the Kaadu numbers I saw were particularly stunning…check out this cover.

Radhika Menon, founder, Tulika Books

The book that made my year:
Gone Grandmother by Chatura Rao, illustrated by Krishna Bala Shenoi
Handling the idea of loss is always difficult. Here it’s the child’s way of coming to terms, which is surprisingly practical, sometimes funny, and with little details that tug at the heart. The pictures harmonise beautifully with the story and the mood to create a classic in this genre.

Our book that deserved to do better:
The Trickster Bird by Rinchin, illustrated by Manjari Chakravarti. The work of easily one of the best children’s writers in India today, Rinchin’s stories are absorbing, layered and important. This arrestingly illustrated story within a story juxtaposes the rich flavour of a folk tale with the plight of the Paardhi tribals who have had to leave their forests to become ragpickers in cities.

I wish I’d published:
When She Went Away by Andaleeb Wajid (Published by Duckbill). At one level it’s just a teen romance, but in fact is a brave book that raises interesting questions of gender and choice. A woman ups and leaves her husband and two children for her own good reasons… a challenging situation, the exploration of which is attempted with empathy and freshness.

Courtesy: Scroll.in

Twitter Wonders why Modi did not use ‘mitron’ even once

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the nation second time in 51 days. However, contrary to wide speculation, his speech did not touch on the adverse effects of the demonetisation move and his future plans to tackle them.

He used the speech to woo potential voters in five poll-bound states by announcing interest rate exemptions for home owners and allowances for farmers. He also ‘encouraged’ women to become pregnant by offering them Rs 6,000 allowances during the time of pregnancy.
 

However, the Twitter users quickly found out that the PM had not used the word ‘mitron’ even once. Tonight, all he used to address his audience was ‘deshwasiyon (countrymen).’

The use of ‘mitron (friends)’ during his first address to the nation on 8 November had caused him widespread mocking as even the dictionary website, Urban Dictionary, too had included the word to take a dig at the PM.

Aaron Peckham’s Urban Dictionary, which helps make sense of the colorful street language around you, had described Mitron as:

“1) A large group of unsuspecting people, about to be hit by something they will take a long time to recover from.

2). A precursor to bad news for large groups of people."

Modi used the word ‘mitr (friend)’ just once while referring to bank employees.

Here are some of the reactions from Twitter users, who commented on the omission of mitron from Modi’s speech as well as taking a dig at his broader speech.





Courtesy: Janta ka reporter.

 

Plugging a Dam with Band-aid: Modi’s confused Welfarism will do little to Heal Demonetisation’s Pain

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How will trotting out a list of small-scale measures help tackle the shock to the economy?


Photo Credit: Scroll.in

On Saturday, large numbers of Indians had a rather unusual New Year’s Eve plan: watch the Prime Minister speak. Narendra Modi’s last televised speech on November 8 had seen him drop a bombshell: the demonetisation of 86% of India’s currency. This time – for better or for worse – there was no such big announcement. The prime minister, instead, went in for some avuncular moralising and then proceeded to announce a slew of welfarist measures, ostensibly as a balm for the pains that his government’s demonetisation has caused.

While Modi’s welfarism represents the completion of a full U-turn from the prime ministerial candidate who had promised “minimum government”, the measures themselves would do little to address the ill-effects of demonetisation other then, weakly, manage the optics of Modi being seen to be doing something to help the citizens in their time of need.

Morals and sops

Modi started off with some homilies in keeping with the moral politics that he has tried to institute ever since November 8. “In God’s creation, humans are endowed with fundamental goodness,” sermonised the prime minister. “With time, the distortions of badness creep in”. It was to take out this “badness” that the “shuddhi yagya”, purity sacrifice of demonetisation had been conducted, explained Modi. But in this sacrifice, Modi was aware of the “pain and sorrow” of the common people: “You had to queue up, and face difficulty in withdrawing your own money.”

The second half of Modi’s speech consisted of a slew of small-scale sops and measures, targeted mostly at rural India. Some of these are:

  • An interest rebate for small loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana in urban areas. Loans less than Rs 9 lakh will see an interest cut of 4% and those less than Rs 12 lakh will see a cut of 3%. An interest cut of 3% for loans of up to 2 lakh rupees taken in 2017, for new housing, or extension of housing in rural areas.
  • A 33% increase in the number of homes built in rural India under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.
  • Three crore Kisan credit cards will be replaced by RuPay cards.
  • The underwriting of loans given by banks to small businesses by the Union government will go up from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. Moreover, credit limit for small industry from will be raised from 20% of the turnover to 25%.
  • Tax reduction for small business: Reduction of rate of tax from 8% to 6% for small business having a turnover less than Rs 2 crore.
  • Financial assistance to expectant mothers: Rs 6000 will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.

Welfare optics

In all of these small sops to citizens and small industry the one thing that stood out was that…nothing stood out. A plan to build more houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna or a slightly lower rate of tax for some small businesses were so banal that they wouldn’t even make the headlines in a Union budget speech.

Moreover, a few schemes were already part of the Union government’s policy matrix: the maternity benefit exists as a part of the National Food Security Act, passed in 2013, and the RuPay card is hardly a new idea.

Other than the optics of managing anger due to demonetisation and making a show of the government caring, it is unclear how these small schemes will help India get over the shock of demonetisation.

It is also apparent that Narendra Modi has by now completely given up on his minimum government programme. Sops is what the prime minister turns to as a crutch in times of need. The fact that the prime minister had to now pull out a provision of the United Progressive Alliance’s 2013 Food Security Act – which both the UPA and his government had denied to women – is telling.

Of course, it is unlikely these small sops will do anything to ease the pain of demonetisation. As India steps into the new year, mitron, it’s clear that the pain will continue.

(Republished with permission from Scroll.in).

Demonetization not a “war on black money” unless finances of political parties made accountable

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While the common man is being subjected to infinite scrutiny and daily changing rules, the political parties enjoy to have a free-run at not disclosing a large part of their income, running into thousands of crores. As long as the political parties continue to enjoy this exemption, the menace of black money cannot be said to have been tackled.


A queue outside RBI Delhi office

In one of the most unprecedented decisions in Indian history that was taken on 8th November, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suddenly announced the cancellation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes with a view of “eliminating black money”. Over the last seven weeks, the PM has regularly reiterated this stand, and called demonetization a “war on black money” through his speeches at various election rallies, the survey on his mobile app, and most recently in his “Mann ki Baat” program on Sunday. However, Nasim Zaidi, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, recently expressed that “many political parties are being used as conduits for siphoning off black money”.

As per the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act), political parties are not required to report the names of the individuals or organizations from whom they have received donations of amounts less than Rs. 20,000. A study by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has shown that these ‘unaccounted donations’ form a large part of political parties’ income. In the year 2014-15 alone, BJP declared an income of 505.26 crore rupees from unknown sources, while Congress received a sum of 445.22 crore from unknown sources during the same time-period. At present, there are over 1,700 registered political parties in India, and many political parties may have been misusing this exemption to convert their black money, as voiced by the Chief Election Commissioner.

At a time, when the common citizen is being questioned for even depositing 5000 rupees in their personal account, should the political parties be given a free-run to deposit hundreds of crores into their accounts without declaring the sources, while also enjoying 100% tax-exemption?

An article last month speculated that since political parties are legally not bound to declare the donors below 20,000 rupees, and permitted to collect infinite such donations, it allows existing political parties to use this loophole post-demonetization to successfully convert all their unaccounted money into white without any fear of penalty. In order to examine the truth behind the above speculation, ABP News carried an investigative report, where they traced many political parties at their registered address as given to Election Commission. The report found that many political parties in the Delhi-NCR region, indeed existed only ‘on-paper’.

Given that the Modi government has been very quick in changing rules almost every-day for the common people, such as putting restrictions on withdrawal from ‘Jan-Dhan’ accounts, frequently changing the limits and deadlines for deposits and withdrawals for cash, and even announcing an amnesty scheme to declare black money, it is surprising that political parties are still being given a free-run despite repeated demands from the Election Commission and the civil society to remove these exemptions.

Following the uproar caused by the statement of revenue secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, about political parties being exempted for deposits made into their own accounts, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was quick to bring out a press release, stating that no exemptions had been given to political parties ‘after’ demonetization. What he conveniently chose to ignore was that the political parties have long been enjoying these exemptions from ‘before’ demonetization. At a time when the rules for common man are being changed every day, why is the government not showing any intent to change the rules for the political parties?

In fact, at his rally in Kanpur, the Prime Minister proclaimed that the laws regulating the funding of political parties were made by the Congress & the present government has “not altered even a ‘comma or a full stop’ in that.” The question which arises then, is that, if the Prime Minster considers demonetization to be a war on black money, why has he not made any effort to change these rules which are helping the political parties to siphon off black money despite a warning from the CEC?

In the same press release, Jaitley also said that “Under Section 13A of IT Act 1961, Political parties have to submit audited accounts, income & expenditure details and balance sheets.” However, further research of the documents analyzed by Association for Democratic Reforms in this matter shows that the reality is far-different from what is being projected by Mr. Jaitley. While, it is true that political parties are required to get their accounts audited by the chartered accountants, they are not required to disclose the details of donors giving less than 20,000 rupees to either the Election Commission or the IT Department. This is also evident from the Income-Tax returns filed by BSP for the year 2013-14. Moreover, can the IT Returns of the political parties make them accountable for their expenditures?

A close look at the IT Returns of BJP for the year 2014-15 reveal that the party spent 2.1 crore rupees on ‘entertainment’ within one year. If no red-flags were raised on this, who is to stop a political party from spending Rs. 21 crore or Rs. 210 crore on ‘Entertainment’ in the upcoming years? Such unchecked income and expenditure, can easily provide a ‘legal’ pathway to convert black money to white.

Another analysis by ADR reveals that out of 1,703 registered political parties in 2013-14, only 69 parties submitted reports of donations (above Rs. 20,000) to EC, while only 14 parties submitted their audit reports. The status of income and expenditure of remaining 1,620 parties (~95% of the registered parties) remains largely unknown. Thus, if 95% political parties can go unquestioned about their finances, can demonetization really be called a “war against black money”?

Recent revelations of an Enforcement Directorate probe which revealed that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) deposited Rs. 105 crore into their party account in 1000 and 500 rupee notes after demonetization only reinforce the need for making the political donations accountable. BSP’s supremo, Mayawati has since explained that they received this amount in small donations from all over India since August 2016, and is therefore under the ambit of law. This is consistent with the income-tax returns submitted by the party to the Election Commission over the last 10 years, where BSP has not received a single donation over Rs. 20,000 in the last ten years, as per the analysis of ADR.

At a time, when the common citizen is being questioned for even depositing 5000 rupees in their personal account (Non-KYC compliant accounts are still required to provide a satisfactory reason to two bank officials), should the political parties be given a free-run to deposit hundreds of crores into their accounts without declaring the sources, while also enjoying 100% tax-exemption?

When according to the Prime Minister, even beggars are using swipe machines, and he is urging the whole country to go cashless, why is he not leading from front by mandating the BJP and other political parties to go cashless? Why is the Modi government which enjoys clear majority in the Lok Sabha, not showing any intent to curb black money, by amending the RP Act, or bringing an ordinance to remove the 20,000 Rupees limit, despite suggestions by the EC? In the presence of this evidence, it is abundantly clear that unless the laws which allow political parties to freely deposit hundreds of crores in their bank accounts are amended, it would be grossly inaccurate to call demonetization a war on black money.

(Nishank Varshney is a Public Policy scholar at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. He has previously worked on Electoral Reforms with the Association for Democratic Reforms).

(This article was first published on Kafila Online).
 

The Trolling of Mohammad Shami or Tina Dabi

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It’s Not Hindu v/s Muslim But Whether We See Women as Property
 

Recently, Muslim bigots viciously trolled Indian cricketer Mohammad Shami for posting a photograph of his family – his wife Hasin Jahan, they said, wore un-Islamic clothes. The trolls – Taliban style – demanded to regulate what ‘their’ women should be allowed to wear, and sought to shame Shami for failing to discipline his wife’s clothing and make her wear a hijab like Irfan Pathan’s wife.
 
‘Are you a Muslim?’ ‘Aren’t you ashamed at your wife’s exposed neck?’ ‘Your wife is very cute but better not keep her in western clothes’ – were some of the milder comments.
 
One said “We hate you shami. .. apni aurat ki izzat ki nilami mat karo Bhai…" (Don’t auction off the honour of your woman), another told Shami “This beauty private property of u..dear …not showing 4 others…"  
 
The moral police clearly felt no hesitation in declaring that Hasin Jahan was her husband Shami’s ‘private property’; and that they, as self-proclaimed custodians of Islam, had a right to dictate how Muslim women chose to dress.  
 
The trolls were outnumbered however by saner democratic voices who expressed contempt for the moral police and support for the right of women to dress exactly as they wish without being judged and shamed and controlled by others.
 
On previous occasions, I have noticed that some Muslim men who would appreciate my social media posts against communalism, would get indignant at posts of mine directed at patriarchal dress codes – even those imposed by Hindutva brigades. They would post comments justifying moral policing and telling me that women’s revealing clothes made them unsafe.
 
I would ask them: “You are able to recognize that it is fascist to tell Muslims they are asking to be beaten and attacked if they eat beef or wear a skull cap and beard. How come you can’t recognize that it’s just as oppressive to tell women they are asking to be raped if they wear a dress of their choice?”    
 
In the context of the Shami trolling episode, I wrote a piece on the patriarchal codes that are shared across religious, social and political lines. In that piece, I shared an anecdote where Dalit young men were very conscious and aware of the ways in which dominant castes do not “let them dress in modern clothes, use bikes or play loud music or move freely on the main streets and public spaces of the village or town.” But the same young men found it entirely natural on their own part to prevent young Dalit women from dressing in modern clothes, moving freely with head uncovered in public spaces and so on!  
 
In that piece I also shared how even on the Left, there are deep-seated patriarchal prejudices and suspicions about women’s freedom and autonomy. In the last paragraph, I also asked the Hindutva trolls to recognize their own mirror image when they looked into the eyes of the Muslim fanatic trolls.
 
In the responses to that piece I noticed there were several who demanded to know why mention Hindutva moral police at all in the context of an incident involving the Muslim moral police?
 
By doing so, they alleged, I as a ‘commie feminist’ was being soft on the Muslim fanatic patriarchs. In reply, I would ask, don’t we ‘commie feminists’ routinely compare the Hindutva moral police (when they impose dress codes etc) to the Taliban?
 
To take just one instance, here is a statement  issued by my organisation AIPWA on the February 2009 Mangalore pub attack, referring to the Sri Ram Sene, Bajrang Dal and similar outfits as the “saffron Taliban.”
 
By making that comparison with the Muslim fanatic Taliban, were we being ‘soft on the Hindutva moral police’?!
 
Not at all: rather, our statement sought to underline that the patriarchal assault on women’s freedom and autonomy is what needs to be recognized and resisted – whether it is by the Taliban in relatively remote Afghanistan, the saffron brigades in India, or even the so-called ‘secular’ party leaders who condemned ‘pub culture’ instead of condemning the attacks on women.           
 
The problem with patriarchy is that we can often see and recognize it only in ‘others’ – in our own homes, communities, cultures, it looks ‘normal.’ But the most crucial anti-patriarchal struggles have to be waged in the comfortable spaces – in our own homes, communities, and cultures. One useful test to apply to ourselves when condemning attacks by those of ‘other’ communities on the rights of women, is to ask ourselves if we would condemn identical attacks by those of our own community?
 
This is not whataboutery. If we have not yet recognized or resisted patriarchy and sexism by ‘our own,’ it does mean we must not condemn the same by ‘others.’ But recognizing it in others can help us recognize and resist it in ourselves. That is why, even in articles condemning the patriarchal remarks or ideologies of Sangh leaders or Muslim fanatic trolls, I as a Leftist often make it a point to reflect also on how similar patriarchal tendencies are seen even on the Left.
 
The Hindutva trolls, not long ago, viciously trolled Tina Dabi for having become engaged to a Kashmiri Muslim colleague Athar Aamir-ul Shafi Khan. The All India Hindu Mahasabha even thought it was entitled to write a letter to Tina Dabi’s father saying, "This decision of your family will promote love jihad and thus the wedding should not take place at any cost.” In writing that letter, the Hindu Mahasabha displayed the exact same mentality that the Muslim fanatics trolling Shami did.
 
The Hindu Mahasabha treated Tina Dabi – an independent adult woman – as the property of her father; they declared that her choice (of life partner) shamed her father and her faith; and asked her father to protect Hindu honour by preventing her from exercising her choice.
 
Likewise, the Muslim fanatics treated Hasin Jahan – an independent adult woman – as the property of her husband; declared that her choice (of dress) shamed her husband and her faith; and asked her husband to protect Muslim honour by preventing her from exercising her choice. Making this comparison and recognizing the family resemblance between Muslim and Hindu patriarchies is important because doing so clarifies the issue.
 
The comparison makes it clear that the issue is not Hindu vs Muslim but that of women’s freedom vs patriarchy.
 
  
 

नोटबदली – जनता को परेशान कर सत्ता पर दीर्घकालिक कब्जे की तैयारी

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नरेन्द्र मोदी ने विदेशी बैंकों में जमा काले धन को वापस भारत लाने की बात की थी। वह तो हुआ नहीं उल्टे उन्होंने भारत से बाहर धन ले जाने की सीमा 75,000 डॉलर से बढ़ा कर ढाई लाख डॉलर कर दी। एक बार देश का पैसा बाहर चला गया फिर उसका हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था में योगदाम खत्म हो गया।

हलांकि कई लोग, जिनमें से इस लेख का एक लेखक भी शामिल था, काफी दिनों से यह सुझाव दे रहे थे कि भ्रष्टाचार कम करने के लिए बड़े नोटों, खासकर रु. 500 व रु. 1000 के नोट बंद किए जाएं लेकिन जो नरेन्द्र मोदी सरकार कर रही है वैसा नहीं सोचा गया था। यह माना गया था कि, भले ही काला धन नकद में सिर्फ 6 प्रतिशत ही है, बड़े नोटों का प्रचलन बंद हो जाने से बड़ा काला धन छुपाना व बड़ी घूस देना असुविधाजनक हो जाएगा। यह कभी नहीं सोचा गया था कि नए बड़े नोट पुनः अर्थव्यवस्था में ले आए जाएंगे। इन पर स्थाई प्रतिबंध की मांग की गई थी। नए बड़े नोटों को लाकर तो नए भ्रष्टाचार और काले धन को उत्पन्न करने की संभावनाएं खोल दी गई हैं। यहां यह भी स्पष्ट कर देना जरूरी है कि जिसे नोटबंदी कहा जा रहा है वह असल में तो नोटबदली ही है।

जिस तरह से आप अपना ही कितना पैसा निकाल सकते हैं और कितना जमा करा सकते हैं इसके नियम रोज-रोज बदले जाते रहे उसने पूरी वित्तीय व्यवस्था का मजाक बना कर रख दिया। पुराने नोटों को जमा करने की अंतिम तिथि से एक हफ्ते से भी पहले भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक ने घोषणा कर दी कि एक बार में सिर्फ रु. 5000 ही जमा कर सकते हैं। वित मंत्री ने कहा कोई सीमा नहीं होगी लेकिन जितना जमा करना है एक बार में ही जमा करें। दो दिनों तक स्थिति अस्पष्ट बनी रही और फिर दोनों ही निर्णय वापस ले लिए गए। ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि कोई बहुत सोच-समझ कर निर्णय नहीं लिए जा रहे थे और प्रधान मंत्री समेत मंत्रियों व भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक समेत बैंकों में तालमेल का अभाव दिखा। भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक ने बड़ी मेहनत से अपनी जो एक स्वायत्त छवि बनाई थी, वह सारी घूल में मिल गई। अब वह प्रधान मंत्री व वित मंत्री के इशारे पर नाच रहा है।

एक तरफ कहा गया कि आप 49.5 प्रतिशत कर देकर काला धन जमा करा सकते हैं लेकिन जब कोई काला धन जमा कराने की कोशिश करता तो आयकर विभाग उसके पीछे पड़ जाता। लोग कतारों में खड़े होकर जब अपना पैसा निकालने जाते तो सरकार द्वारा घोषित सीमा तक भी नकद नहीं मिल पा रहा था। कुछ लोग शुरू की भीड़ से बचने के लिए थोड़ा बाद में लेकिन घोषित अंतिम तारीख 30 दिसंबर से एक हफ्ते पहले भी पहुंचे तो उनसे पूछा जाने लगा कि इतनी देर से क्यों आए? आपातकाल लागू होने को छोड़कर कभी भी स्वतंत्र भारत में सरकार ने खुद ही व्यवस्था को इस तरह बंधक नहीं बनाया है। अपनी घोषणाओं पर खुद ही नहीं टिकी रही और वादा कर पीछे जाती रही। बैंक व्यवस्था की विश्वसनीयता को दीर्घकालिक नुकसान पहुंचा है। अब लोग बैंकों व उनके निर्णयों को संदेह से देखेंगे।

नए नोटों के बाजार में आने के कुछ ही दिनों के अंदर ही बड़ी-बड़ी रकमें पकड़ी जाने लगीं जिसमें पूरे या आंशिक रूप से नए नोट शामिल थे। सवाल यह है कि जब बैंक व ए.टी.एम. से पैसा निकालने की सीमा क्रमशः रु. 24,000 व रु. 2,000 तय थी तो इतनी बड़ी रकमें आईं कहां से? क्या यह बैंक अधिकारियों की मिली भगत के बिना संभव है? लेकिन नोटबदली लागू होने के बाद लाखों-करोड़ों के साथ कुछ व्यापारियों या दलालों के पकड़े जाने की तो खबरें आईं किंतु उन अधिकारियों के खिलाफ कोई कार्यवाही की खबर सुनने को नहीं मिली जिनकी वजह से लाखों-करोड़ों मूल्य के नए नोट बैंकों से बाहर आ गए। किसी जाने-माने पूंजीपति या व्यापारिक घराने, खासकर जो काला धन का कारोबार करने के लिए जाने जाते हैं के यहां छापा पड़ने की कोई खबर सुनने को नहीं मिली।

तो विचित्र स्थिति यह हो गई कि सामान्य नागरिक को तो बैकों को अपनी जायज आय के बारे में जवाब देना पड़ रहा था और नाजायज धन रखने वालों को छुआ तक नहीं गया। चूंकि ज्यादातर पुराने रु. 500 व रु. 1000 के नोट बैंकों में वापस आ चुके हैं अतः जिनके पास था भी उन्होंने काले धन को सफेद कर लिया है।

न ही किसी बड़े नेता या राजनीतिक दल के कार्यालय में छापा पड़ा जबकि इस देश में काले धन के संस्थागत अस्तित्व की मूल वजह उसका चुनाव में इस्तेमाल होना है। यह सार्वजनिक जानकारी है कि देश में सबसे ज्यादा अज्ञात स्रोत से धन दो राजनीतिक दलों, कांग्रेस व भाजपा को मिलता है। पिछले दस वर्षों में क्रांग्रेस व भाजपा को कुल मिलकर रु. 5,450 धन ऐसा मिला, जो अधिकांश शायद काला होगा, यानी उसपर कर नहीं दिया गया होगा। यह धन या तो बड़े व्यापारिक घरानों का होगा अथवा सरकारी योजनाओं या परियोजनाओं में हुए भ्रष्टाचार की देन होगा। लेकिन उन अधिकारियों के खिलाफ भी कोई कार्यवाही नहीं हुई जो राजनीतिक दलों के एजेंट के रूप में काम करते हैं और जिनकी सम्पत्ति उनके आय के ज्ञात स्रोतों से निश्चित रूप से ज्यादा है।

इसके गम्भीर मायने हैं। चूंकि उन लोगों को छुआ तक नहीं गया जो चुनावों में लगने वाले काले धन का कारोबार करते हैं, तो चुनाव अभी भी भ्रष्टाचार से ही पोषित होते रहेंगे। फिर इस तमाशे की क्या जरूरत थी?
      
2015-16 में राजनीति दलों को जो रु. 20,000 से ऊपर का चंदा मिला उसमें भाजपा को 613 दानदाताओं ने रु. 76.85 करोड़ दिया जबकि कांग्रेस को 918 दानदाताओं ने रु. 20.42 करोड़ दिया। भाजपा को जो धन मिला वह अन्य छह राष्ट्रीय दलों, जिसमें माकपा, भाकपा, राष्ट्रवादी कांग्रेस पार्टी व तृणमूल कांग्रेस भी शामिल हैं के कुल चंदे से तीन गुना अधिक था। गौर करने योग्य बात यह है कि भाजपा को रु. 67.99 करोड़ 283 निजी कम्पनियों से मिला और कांग्रेस को रु. 8.83 करोड़ 57 कम्पनियों से। भाजपा को शेष रु. 8.86 करोड़ 330 व्यक्तियों ने दिया और कांग्रेस का शेष रु. 11.24 करोड़ 859 व्यक्तियों से आया। कांग्रेस को रु. 8.11 करोड़ देने वाले 318 लोगों के व भाजपा को रु. 2.19 देने वाले 71 लोगों के पैन कार्ड विवरण अनउपलब्ध थे। उपर्युक्त से पता चलता है कि भाजपा जिसको पिछले तीन वित्तीय वर्षों से ही कांग्रेस से ज्यादा चंदा मिलना शुरू हुआ है को पांच गुना ज्यादा निजी कम्पनियां सात गुना ज्यादा चंदा दे रही हैं। इसी तरह भाजपा को चंदा देने वाले व्यक्तियों की संख्या भले ही कम हो लेकिन वे ज्यादा बड़ी रकमें दे रहे हैं। भाजपा को चंदा देने वाला व्यक्ति व्यवस्था के नियम ज्यादा अच्छी तरह समझता है इसलिए नकद रहित व्यवस्था उसके ज्यादा अनुकूल है बनिस्पत बहुजन समाज पार्टी जैसी पार्टियों के पारम्परिक दानदाताओं के। कांग्रेस को रु. 20,000 के ऊपर धनराशि में कुल रु. 1.17 करोड़ नकद मिले जबकि भाजपा को सिर्फ रु. 51,000।
      
लेकिन बड़ा पैसा तो रु. 20,000 से कम वाले चंदों से आता हैे जिनके स्रोत अज्ञात होते हैं। यह धन पार्टी के कुल चंदे का आधे से ज्यादा से लेकर 80 प्रतिशत तक होता है। 2014-15 में भाजपा के रु. 970 करोड़ में से रु. 505 करोड़ अज्ञात स्रोत से था। क्रांगेस के रु. 593 करोड़ में रु. 445 करोड़ इस तरह की राशि थी। चुनाव आयोग के नियमों के अनुसार रु. 20,000 से कम के चंदे का स्रोत बताना जरूरी नहीं है।
      
असल में तो राजनीतिक दल जो काले धन का इस्तेमाल करते हैं वह घोषित अज्ञात स्रोतों से कहीं ज्यादा होता होगा।
      
सच तो यह है कि सभी दल काले धन का इस्तेमाल चुनावों में करते हैं। इसलिए सबने मिलकर अन्ना हजारे के जन लोकपाल बिल को अवरुद्ध किया। साफ है कि अन्य दलों की तुलना में भाजपा को ज्यादा अमीर लोगों व बड़ी कम्पनियों से धन मिल रहा है। वह उन्हीं के मुताबिक नीतियां बनाएगी। इसमें कोई आश्चर्य नहीं होना चाहिए कि नरेन्द्र मोदी ने भू-अधिग्रहण कानून में तीन बार संशोधन का प्रयास किया ताकि किसान की भूमि अधिग्रहित करना आसान हो जाए। मायावती ने उ.प.्र में रिलायंस फ्रेश के स्टोर नहीं लगने दिए और नीतीश कुमार ने बिहार में विशेष आर्थिक क्षेत्र नहीं बनने दिए। उनकी सोच कम्पनियों के दबाव से अपने को मुक्त रखना है। जबकि नरेन्द्र मोदी निजी कम्पनियों और अमीरों के लिए ही काम कर रहे हैं।

नरेन्द्र मोदी ने विदेशी बैंकों में जमा काले धन को वापस भारत लाने की बात की थी। वह तो हुआ नहीं उल्टे उन्होंने भारत से बाहर धन ले जाने की सीमा 75,000 डॉलर से बढ़ा कर ढाई लाख डॉलर कर दी। एक बार देश का पैसा बाहर चला गया फिर उसका हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था में योगदाम खत्म हो गया।

क्या काला धन ही हिन्दुस्तान की सबसे बड़ी समस्या थी?
      
जिसे देश में अभी लोग पूरी तरह से साक्षर भी नहीं हैं और जो हैं भी उनकी काबिलियत संदिग्ध है, जहां बहुसंख्यक आबादी किसान, मजदूर, छोटा व्यापारी, दुकानदार, थोक विक्रेता व अनौपचारिक क्षेत्र में लगे उद्यमी नकद का इस्तेमाल करते हैं वहां हमारी अपेक्षा है कि लोग मोबाइल फोन और कार्ड के सहारे पैसों का लेन-देन करें? इसमें लोगों के लिए क्या सुविधा होगी? हां, मोबाइल कम्पनियों और किस्म-किस्म की कम्पयूटर कम्पनियों जो मोबाइल या कार्ड से भुगतान करने की व्यवस्थाएं बना रहीे हैं उनका फायदा जरूर है। अब उन्हें अपना प्रचार करने की भी जरूरत नहीं क्योंकि सरकार ही उनका प्रचार कर रही है। लेकिन भारत का ग्रामीण और शहरी गरीब खासकर महिलाएं, आदिवासी, दलित इस व्यवस्था का हिस्सा बन जाएंगे यह कैसे सम्भव होगा? निरक्षर और गरीब लोगों के ऊपर इस तरह की व्यवस्था थोपना भी उनके साथ अन्याय है।
      
विश्व प्रसिद्ध अर्थशास्त्री ज्यां डेªज ने रांची में 85 दुकानकारों, ठेले वालों व व्यापारियों के एक सर्वेक्षण में पाया कि इस वर्ग की औसत आय जब से नोटबदली लागू हुई एक माह की अवधि में 46 प्रतिशत गिर गई, यानी आधी हो गई है। औसत लोगों को एक माह में 13 घंटे बैंकों व ए.टी.एम. के सामने खड़ा रहना पड़ा। कुछ लोग 30-40 घंटे भी बैंकों में खड़े रहे। रांची की अनौपचारिक अर्थव्यवस्था नकद पर चलती है और वह बुरी तरह प्रभावित हुई। किसान को दाम न मिलने के अभाव में अपनी उपज ऐसे ही बाजार में छोड़ देनी पड़ी, लोग जरूरी चीजें नहीं खरीद पाए, कुछ लोगों ने अपने यहां काम करने वालों को तनख्वाह न दे पाने की स्थिति में निकाल दिया और मजदूर को भी काम मिलने में दिक्कत आई। कुछ लोगों को तो खाने के भी लाले पड़ गए। कम बिक्री, कम आय, कम खर्च, कम रोजगार के दुष्चक्र से बाहर आने में समय लगेगा। रांची जैसी ही स्थिति देश के शेष शहरों और गांवों की है। नकदविहीन व्यवस्था लागू करने के चक्कर में सरकार ने लोगों के पास पैसा होते हुए भी उन्हें धनविहीन बना दिया है।
      
बैकों और ए.टी.एम. की कतार में खड़े पूरे देश में करीब सौ लोग अपनी जान से हाथ धो चुके हैं। सरकार कहती है कि जनता को काले धन के खिलाफ लड़ाई में थोड़ा कष्ट झेलना पड़ेगा। यदि जनता से यह अपेक्षा की जा रही है कि वह अपना कर्त्वय निभाए तो कतारों में खड़े लोगों की मृत्यु की जिम्मेदारी भी सरकार को लेनी चाहिए और सीमा पर शहीद हुए सैनिक या किसी दुर्घटना या प्राकृतिक आपदा में मरे लोगों के परिवारों की तरह इन लोगों के परिवारों को भी मुआवजा मिलना चाहिए। अखिलेश यादव ने तो उत्तर प्रदेश में मरे 14 लोगों के परिवारों को दो-दो लाख रुपए का मुआवजा देकर पहल की है लेकिन यह जिम्मेदारी तो मुख्यतः केन्द्र सरकार की है।
      
2013-14 से 2015-16 तक 29 सरकारी बैंकों ने निजी कम्पनियों का रु. 1.14 लाख करोड़ रुपए कर्ज माफ कर दिया। यह पिछले 9 सालों में माफ किए गए कुल कर्ज से ज्यादा है। दस बड़ी कम्पनियों ने सरकारी बैंकों व वित्तीय संस्थानों से कुल 6 करोड़ रुपए कर्ज लिए हुए हैं। सरकार के मुताबिक सरकारी बैंकों के 2,071 खातों में रु. 3.38 लाख करोड़ कर्ज दिया गया जिसकी वापसी की सम्भावना कम है। देश के सबसे अमीर लोगों के कर्ज सरकार माफ करती है और आम इंसान को दोषी बना कर कतारों में खड़ा कर, उसके लिए नकद की कृत्रिम कमी पैदा कर, उसके रोजगार पर संकट खड़ा कर परेशान करती है अथवा कुछ छोटे व्यापारियों या दलालों के यहां छापे डाल जनता की आंखों में धूल झोंकने का काम करती है।
      
जनता का छोटा-छोटा धन जबरन बैंकों में जमा करा सरकार निजी कम्पनियों और अमीर लोगों द्वारा बैंकों का पैसा हड़प जाने से पैसों की कमी को पूरी कर रही है और शायद पुनः वैसे ही लोगों को बड़े कर्ज में दे दिया जाए। वाह रे बैंकिग व्यवस्था। सरकार को बड़े कर्ज लिए हुए लोगों से वसूली करने के लिए जो उन्हें जवाबदेह बनाने का काम करना चाहिए वह करती हुई वह नहीं दिख रही। विजय मल्लया, ललित मोदी, सुब्रत राय या बाबा रामदेव के प्रति वह नर्म दिखाई पड़ती है। मजे की बात यह है कि ये सभी महानुभाव एक से बढ़ कर एक राष्ट्रवादी हैं। विजय मल्लया इंग्लैण्ड में निलामी में टीपू सुल्तान की तलवार रु. एक करोड़ देकर वापस लाए थे, ललित मोदी ने भारत में फटाफट क्रिकेट की प्रतियोगिता शुरू की जिसमें दुनिया भर के खिलाड़ी खेलने आते हैं, सुब्रत राय के मुख्यालय के सामने भारतमाता की बड़ी तस्वीर है और उनकी कम्पनी सहारा के एक साथ एक लाख से ऊपर कर्मचारियों का राष्ट्रगान गाने का विश्व रिकार्ड कायम किया गया है और बाबा रामदेव तो योग और आयुर्वेद की धाक पूरी दुनिया में जमा रहे हैं। शायद राष्ट्रवाद और बड़े पैसे खासकर कालेधन का आपस में कोई सम्बंध है?
      
कुल मिलाकर नोटबदली को लागू करने में सरकार के कुप्रबंधन का खामियाजा जनता को भोगना पड़ रहा है। जनता के गुस्से को सुनहरे सपने दिखाकर या राष्ट्रवाद का घूंट पिला कर नियंत्रित किया गया है लेकिन भविष्य कोई बेहतर होने वाला है इसके कोई आसार तो दिखाई नहीं पड़ते।
 

 

50 Days of Note Bandi : A Monumental Failure

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Modi’s note ban will go down in history as one of the biggest failures of government policy ever to have been seen in any country ever. Not only has there been immense misery and suffering for common people across the country and irreparable economic loss, but even the announced goals of this foolish plan have not been met. Let us look at what Modi claimed to achieve and what really happened.

Black Money
The unearthing of black money was the main objective of note bandi announced by Modi on Nov.8. In this his move has spectacularly failed, as was predicted by most economists and experts. Modi was foolishly expecting that black money held in cash would not be returned. Govt. officials said that anything between Rs.3-6 lakh crore would be unreturned. But all this wishful thinking has come a cropper. As per latest figures, out of the Rs.15.44 lakh crore worth of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes that were in circulation before Nov.8, over Rs.14 lakh crore has been returned to banks by the people. Economists had indicated that a small fraction of black wealth is held in cash. Even that has been successfully recirculated by the owners using various devious means. In fact the black economy continues like before.

Terrorism
J&K has seen the highest number of fatalities – 266 – in terrorist violence this year since 2010. Included among these are 187 security forces personnel, the highest toll since 2008. Specifically, in the two months since the note ban took effect, this year saw 43 fatalities compared to 22 last year. In September Modi govt. carried out the so called surgical strikes against Pakistan claiming that this would curb terrorist activities in J&K. But the figures say something else: during September to December 2016, 63 people were killed in J&K including 39 security personnel. In 2015, in the same three months, 43 people were killed including 31 security personnel. Clearly, neither notebandi nor the surgical strike have succeeded in curbing terrorist activities in the trouble torn state.

In fact deaths due to all kinds of terrorist activities in the whole country (J&K, N-E, Naxalites etc.) have increased this year to 890 from 722 last year. This is a direct consequence of the Modi govt.’s short-sighted and opportunist policies based on a weird mix of power hungry opportunism and jingoism, glued together by the idea that security forces can be used as cannon fodder to quell anything and everything.

The idea that terrorists would be unable to function if new currency was introduced was blown apart when two terrorists who were shot dead on Nov 22 at Bandipore, J&K were found in possession of the new Rs.2000 notes.

Fake Currency
This was initially touted by the govt. as one of the objectives but it was a patently ridiculous one. A study commissioned by the govt. had itself pointed out that the best estimate of fake currency in circulation was Rs.400 cr, which is about 0.2% of the total currency in circulation. The study had also said that it can be tackled by better screening at the banks. Withdrawing nearly Rs.16 lakh crore in order to find a mere 0.2% is like taking a sword to swat a fly. In any case, while there are no reports of any significant recovery of fake currency notes in the last two months, we have reports that new currency notes are already copied and are now in circulation in lakhs.
Cashless
Although making India go cashless was not officially announced as an objective of demonetization, Modi himself and his ministers and supporters have been drumming this since the beginning. In a country where 76% population does not have Internet coverage and just 17% people have smartphones, it is a travesty to think that people will adopt cashless payments in any significant way. Be that as it may, to coerce people into adopting cashless transactions by the disastrous note ban is nothing short of an open attack on the lives and rights of people. More than that, it is also a way of privatization of cash transactions and allowing private companies to make a profit every time you buy something. The govt. has thus acted only in favour of big corporations in pushing this line.

Bad Administration
One thing that was revealed by this whole exercise is that Modi is a disastrous administrator, unlike the image his supporters had hyped up about him. The whole note ban exercise was his own pet project, developed in secret by him with a team working at his residence, as if India is not a democracy but some banana republic run by a dictator. The planning was so faulty and full of holes that while people were put to enormous hardship for the past two months, those who actually had black money in cash successfully turned it into white. More than twenty changes were made in the rules as time passed. Such elementary considerations as letting farmers have cash so that they could proceed with sowing of wheat, or marriage expenses or inability of vast population to go cashless were not thought out before in this maniacal and ill-conceived zeal to implement a nonsensical plan.

Courtesy: Communist Party of India Marxist

50 days of Notebandi : Disastrous Impact of Modi’s Folly-One

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Modi government’s historic blunder of banning notes on Nov.8 has destroyed the lives of crores of poor people in the country, causing irreversible damage that will cast a long shadow in the months to come. Typically, Modi and his sycophants have been going around claiming that this disastrous ‘plan’ will usher in achhe din for the country, ignoring the hardship and pain it has caused. Here is a brief look at some of the destructive results of Modi’s folly.

Jobs
Various economists have estimated that economic growth will dip by anything between 2 to 7 percent because of note ban. If the economy itself slows down, jobs are going to be lost. This is confirmed by evidence from all corners of the country. Various sectors like automobiles, construction and allied sectors, jewelry, textiles and real estate have reported temporary closures and retrenchments for formal/regular workers. Some reports have indicated that over 4 lakh jobs were lost in the first three weeks of note ban. In the textile sector, nearly 25% jobs were reportedly lost while over 60,000 workers became jobless in the leather sector and about 15-20% workers in the gems and jewelry sector lost their jobs. But the real axe has fallen on contract and casual workers in India’s informal sector that employs 94 percent of the workforce. Large scale stoppage of work was reported from agriculture, micro and small manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and various service sector units like shops, warehouses, etc. Informal sector job losses are such that when and how they will be recovered is uncertain. Large scale return migration of agricultural labour from states like Punjab has also taken place. Even MGNREGS jobs declined by 23 percent in the aftermath of notebandi. This was the most devastating blow to the poor given by Modi’s plan.

Wage Loss
Apart from those who lost their jobs, lakhs of agricultural labourers, casual labourers in rural and urban areas, and even formal sector workers lost wages for two to three weeks after the note ban. This was because the whole economy ground to a halt. In some parts of the country, like Jharkhand and Odisha’s tribal belt, daily wage fell to a mere Rs.50 per day. For these millions of daily earners, this was a huge damage and has pushed many into debt. Regular wage earners too had to spend days in queues trying to get out cash just to sustain themselves. Many had to barter away small items in exchange for other necessities while others were forced to accept payments in kind, often at much lower rates (like a kilo of rice for a day’s work). 

Rabi crop
Another major economic loss at mass scale, especially in the Northern states, has been the delay in rabi sowing, especially of wheat. In the week ending 11 November, wheat sowing was down by 41 percent over the normal. After that it continued to be behind schedule and reached normal levels only by 16 December. It was only on 21 November, almost two weeks after the ban was announced that some concession was given for farmers to withdraw cash for completing the sowing process. Reports indicate that farmers somehow managed to get the sowing done after delaying as much as they could but they are now facing the problem of providing water, fertilisers, and other inputs. Many farmers have reported that new plants are not going to survive or may yield low grain output because of pinched input availability.

Farmers' prices
A direct result of the notes ban was that for several weeks afterwards, producers of fruits and vegetables were unable to transport their produce to bigger mandis because of lack of cash. This resulted in prices crashing in rural areas across the country, with some APMCs recording 70 percent drop in prices. In many areas farmers abandoned standing crops of tomatoes and other vegetables, or threw away harvested produce because they did not have the money to transport it. Small farmers have been especially hit because they did not have the kind of resources, credit-worthiness or connections to ride out the storm. Fruit farmers in the hilly states as also orange farmers in Vidarbha lost heavily because their precious crop was sold at throwaway prices.

Nutrition
According to various reports, govt. run nutrition programs in anganwadis and in schools have suffered because of the note ban. Anganwadis reported that over 16 lakh less children turned up to get supplementary nutrition across the country in November compared to October. This was because the anganwadi workers were struggling to arrange food for them with funds inaccessible in banks. Similarly about 5.8 lakh pregnant women and 4.7 lakh nursing mothers, both in dire need of nutrition, were unable to get the supplementary nutrition from anganwadis. Note that in India, over half of pregnant women are anemic and almost a third of infants/children are badly nourished. The sudden deprivation of nutrition would cause irreversible damage to them. Besides this, lack of cash has also destroyed family budgets and would have led to slashing of daily food consumption for at least a few weeks.

Other Suffering
Life was completely thrown out of gear with normal activities like schools, marriages, other family occasions, trips etc. getting postponed. Sickness and injury had to be neglected and treatment postponed, even child birth in remote areas was undertaken at home rather than the nearest govt. center because of lack of cash for transportation. In many cases when expenditures were unavoidable – as in a pre-fixed marriage or medical emergency – the family ran up a huge debt. Many families suffered losses because of having to exchange old notes for less than their value in emergencies. In many rural areas, commodities were selling at higher price if you had only old notes to give, effectively causing a loss to the owner of those notes. Those without bank accounts or who could not get easy access to their banks suffered the most.

Courtesy: Communist Party of India Marxist

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