White paper on black money in Parliament 'Like a bikni'

First-ever disclosure of alleged stashed money held in various Swiss banks by Indians, Swiss National Bank  spokesperson in media report has said the quantum of such deposits stood at  $ 2.5 billion at the end of 2010. Few months back, the spokesperson for the SNB President, said this included about $ 2.1 billion dollars in the form of savings and deposits by Indian individuals, financial institutions and corporates. Remaining $400 million is of fiduciaries largely operating for private individuals from India. He said the bank had no further information when asked about the identity of these fundsand two of the largest Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, account for a vast majority of the deposits of entities from India.

Public outcry and growing judicial scrutiny,political outburst  over alleged stashing of black money in Swiss banks to tune of 15-20 billions forced Indian entities to move their monies to other safe havens like the Middle East, Singapore and Mauritius. Tentatively half a billion dollars have been moved out in the last three years, according to the central bank s figures.Tale floated of a private banker,who said that the actual deposits by Indians could be as high as $ 15-20 billion, but also rubbished the figure of $1.5 trillion that has been reported from time to time.


Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee placed  White paper on black money in Parliament on Monday  hundred page report neither gave the factual state of laundering money stashed abroad more surprisingly did not disclose any names of Swiss account holders or provided any fresh estimate of black money in India.

White Paper on black money has  four-pronged strategy to curb generation of black money. These include more incentives for voluntary compliance of tax laws, reforms in vulnerable sectors of economy and creation credible deterrence.It mentioned that reform of financial and real estate sectors would help in reducing generation of black money in long term as freeing of gold imports had helped in checking smuggling.

In order to curb black money in the real estate sector, which accounts for 11 per cent of GDP, the Paper suggested that government should develop a nationwide data base, introduce TDS on sale of property and set up electronic payment system.

The document seeks to dispel the impression that government was not doing enough to deal with black money and talks about various policy options and strategies it has been pursuing to address the issue of corruption in public life. In order to check the menace of black money, Mr.Mukherjee in his foreward to the Paper said, the government has brought five bills the Lokpal Bill, the Judicial Accountability Bill, the Whistle Blowers Bill, the Grievance Redressal Bill and the Public Procurement Bill, which are at various stages of consideration by Parliament.

He said,the expansion of information exchange network at the international level will help in curbing cross-border flow of illicit wealth, adding while these measures will set the tone for an equitable, transparent and a more efficient economy, there is much that we could do, both individually and collectively, to strengthen the moral fibre of the society.

 BJP briefed media and said government's White Paper on black money as "disappointing" and a "non-paper".

 Jaswant Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party said on Monday it is "like a bikini" as it hides the essentials and reveals only the less significant details."This White Paper is in reality a non-paper. It is rather like a bikini as it conceals all the essentials and reveals only the non-essentials," senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh told the media.

SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal said,Its  matter of great regret that white paper had failed to outline any strategy by the UPA government to bring back 1456 billon dollars stashed by "high and mighty of this Government" in Swiss banks.Further said  this exercise to distract the attention of common masses from the multi-lakh crore scams during the UPA regime.

He said the latest report on the Swiss bank accounts suggested that illegal deposit of Indians in the Swiss bank rose three times from 500 billon dollars to 1456 billon dollars only in the UPA regime which could be termed as the most corrupt regime that the world had ever witnessed.

He said that it was a matter of great shame that India's illegal deposit was maximum in the Swiss bank as the report suggested that Russia was having 470 billon dollars, UK 390 billon dollars, Ukraine 100 billon dollars and China 96 billon dollars

 Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on Monday, also did not provide government's estimate of black money, within and outside the country, though it quoted various estimates of other agencies on the issue.The 97-page document, however, pitched for fast-track courts to expeditiously deal with financial offences and deterrent punishment for offenders.

It has also suggested tax incentives for encouraging use of debit and credit cards as these leave audit trails.

On the possibility of any tax immunity scheme, especially gold deposit scheme, to deal with black money, it said, "The issue of complete tax immunity needs to be examined in the light of other policy objectives."

The document seeks to dispel the impression that government was not doing enough to deal with black money and talks about various policy options and strategies it has been pursuing to address the issue of corruption in public life.