Instead of criticising the Government’s demonetisation move, the Opposition should have studied it from an administrative lens
As expected, the Winter Session of Parliament has begun on a thorny note due to the Government’s demonetisation of high-value currency. On the stance adopted by Opposition on the demonetisation move, two facts are noteworthy. First, none of the parties have criticised the demonetisation move per se but almost all of them have criticised the manner in which the drive is being implemented. Second, some parties have alleged lack of confidentiality that accorded unfair advantage to a selected few and termed it as “demonetisation scam.”
Also, none of the parties have given due credit to the Modi Government for taking such a bold decision which is one of the few bold steps in the post-colonial India that reflects a strong ‘nation state’.
However, in being critical of Government’s demonetisation move, the Opposition is missing the woods for the trees. The ‘first order’ reaction expected of them is to laud the Prime Minister and his Government for taking a decision which will have far-reaching ramifications. How many parties have wholeheartedly supported the moveIJ Some of them have reacted in a tepid manner by simply ‘welcoming’ the move, but were quick to launch an attack on the lack of preparedness. Has any party highlighted the huge potential benefits to the common man over medium to long-term that far outweigh the short-term costsIJ
There is no denying to the fact that the implementation process could have been managed better. But let’s first understand the context. Given the nature of this intervention, the demonetisation exercise could not have been implemented in a phased manner; nor could the Government have run pilots before implementing it at scale. The nature of intervention calls for a single shot implementation.
Also, given the scale of implementation, it is bound to face difficulties. No amount of preparation could have averted the pain. While its a simple, short-term pain for the population, it is a deep wound for the minority who stand to lose in a big way and those wounds will not heal anytime soon. This minority is most critical of the Government’s demonetisation move.
In hindsight, the Government could surely have implemented the rollout of the new currency notes better. For example, the Government could have been more thoughtful in devising the rules, and thereby could have avoided the need for refinement of rules as the implementation got underway. Further, there could have been improved communication of the rules on cash withdrawals and deposits as well as exchange of old currency notes. May be there was complete clarity of rules between the institutions involved but certainly not at the level where the general public transacts with the branch/field offices.
Still, the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have displayed an open mind and have been quick to learn from the initial days to fine-tune the implementation process. It is not clear what level of detail could have been worked out well in advance, given the confidential nature of the move, but certainly, a thought exercise on how the demonetisation is likely to impact day-to-day lives of the common people could have helped the Government and the RBI to operationalise the move better.
Almost all opposition parties have criticised the implementation process from the lens of the common man (not from the administrator’s lens). But how many of them have expressed any sense of urgency in dealing with the plight of the common man due to black money in circulation with all its attendant ill-effects such as inflation, poor public services due to leakages of public funding and so forthIJ Or are they using the common man as an alibi to vent their views as the demonetisation move has hurt, at least some of them, personallyIJ
The implementation part, though extremely important, is something in which all parties, both at the central and States level, have a role to perform. There is a saying, “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” But this need not always be the case. If a party is in Opposition, it doesn’t necessarily have to take an adversarial stance. If the parties are really concerned about the ‘sufferings’ of the common man, they must come up with concrete suggestions on how to smoothen its implementation.
They must look at the issue from the administration’s lens too. By doing so, they will not only do a big service but also reaped some political gains by riding a ‘rising tide’.
(The writer is a development economist)