Black money: Selective release of names won't work

Did what began with a bang, end in a whimper? Seems so, going by the very few names of black money account holders that the government disclosed to the Supreme Court on Monday. The three entities named – former Dabur India director Pradip Burman, bullion trader Pankaj Lodhiya and Goa miner Timblo Pvt Ltd and its five directors – have denied any wrong doing, but the government is planning to reveal more names soon. The explanation the government gave for releasing the three names is that they were the ones that the authorities had “prosecutable evidence” against.

Much before the names were released, there was a lot of criticism that the government was going back on its election promise to bring black money holders to book within 100 days in power. By seeming to be selective with the names, and directly cautioning the Congress that the party will have much to regret if more names are revealed, the ruling BJP has given the issue an unwelcome political hue.

The issue of black money has captured public imagination, the same way several corruption cases have, including the 2G spectrum case or the coal mining scam. The public has been made to believe that the huge money stashed abroad - $460 billion, or one fourth of India's GDP, as per Washington-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity – can make a big difference to India’s economy if brought in, and would even result in lower fuel prices! However, what is conveniently forgotten is the difficulty in bringing the culprits to book, not to mention bringing the cash in, given technical issues like confidentiality agreements between countries. The issue can drag on for years, and given its sensational nature, will continue to remain a hot topic of debate in the public eye.

What can, and must be done, is to find ways and means to stem black money being generated in India. That will need bringing in transparency in real estate deals, so that tax authorities can levy taxes on the actual cost of the transaction, and streamlining the tax system through the much-touted goods and services tax, that is yet to see the light of day. It has been widely argued that lower taxes, and simpler compliance and approval processes will reduce black money in the economy, so will reforms in certain vulnerable sectors such as gold trade, real estate and mining. In the education sector, curbing capitation fees is another area that needs to be looked into. Last but definitely not the least, donations by corporates to political parties have to be made more transparent than it is today.

There is no doubt that wrong-doers need to be brought to book. However, rather than sensationalising the issue through what seems like a selective release of certain names, what would merit the economy at large would be strict measures to curb the menace itself.