OPINION
In defense of Modi's corruption record
India's leader deserves credit for battling graft and pledging to keep up the fight
James Crabtree, in his columns published on 15 May and 23 May 2019
underestimates Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success in fighting
corruption and his determination to reinvigorate the battle in his
second term.
Crabtree's prediction that the election would produce a weak Modi-led
coalition government been laid to rest by Modi's resounding victory. His
forecasts were based on the mistaken assumption that Modi's efforts to
tackle corruption on the ground would fail
to cut much ice among the voters.
Modi's reelection confirms that the government will stick to its overall
commitment to fight corruption at all levels. He seeks not just to
fight corruption but to give it a deadly blow.
The formation of the Special Investigation Team for probing corruption
cases was the first decision taken by the Modi Cabinet when it first
assumed office in May 2014. Since then, it has taken stringent
steps to stop the generation of black money as well ensure that economic offenders are brought to book.
The Prime
Minister's website notes that, thanks to government effort to curb
corruption, so-called black money -- funds that have not been properly
declared to the tax service or other authorities
-- totaling more than US$10 billion has been identified. This include
US$2.3 billion in offshore accounts.
Before 2014,
under previous governments, poor management and regulation allowed the
massive accumulation of bad and doubtful loans at state-owned banks. The Modi government's
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has helped banks and creditors recover approximately $38 billion, says the prime minister.
The Government targeted corruption by public servants, by nominating the
first Lokpal (Ombudsmen) of India to check on public servants, with the
passage of the Lokpal Bill in 2013.
There is no doubt that the Government faced criticism for its 2016
demonetization operation, in which high-value bank notes were canceled
without warning. The move temporarily reduced economic growth. Yet it
would be naive to dismiss it as failure as the state
elections conducted soon after the event gave Modi a resounding victory
in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state.
Demonetization disrupted India's huge black market, hurt the funding
infrastructure for terrorists, invigorated tax payments and boosted the
growth of the digital economy. A study by Professor Sumit Agarwal of
Georgetown University noted a dramatic spike in
debit card usage by 84% after demonetization.
The latest Transparency International corruption-perception report, for
2018, showed a rise of 3 ranks for India to 78th position, up from 81st
in 2017 and 94th in 2013. Transparency International noted, "Although
low-level graft has remained pervasive, the
end of 2017 marked three and a half years of generally scandal-free
governance under the Modi administration."
The argument that Modi was inactive on curbing corruption does not hold much weight.
The article was published in Nikkei Asian Review on 10th of June, 2019.To read directly please follow link -https://asia.nikkei.com/
Punit Saurabh is an assistant professor at the Institute of Management at Nirma University, Ahmedabad
