Talk about one step taken to curb black money: FM to Cong

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday challenged the Congress in the Lok Sabha to talk about “even one step” that it took to curb black money during its 10-year-long regime. When the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, India was one of the “fragile five” economies in the world, he said, adding: “Today, India has become a bright spot in the global economy. India is set to become the fastest-growing large economy of the world, third year in a row."

He was replying to a short discussion on the supplementary demand for grants even as the Congress and other Opposition parties continued disrupting the proceedings of the House, demanding acceptance of their notices for adjournment motion and debate on demonetisation under a rule with provision for voting.

“The Congress was in power from 2004-14. I challenge them (Congress) to talk about even one step taken to curb black money in 10 years,” Jaitley said. The finance minister also rejected the Opposition charge that the government had given additional route to people to convert black money into white by paying 50% tax on deposits.

The effective liability on such persons would be about 65%, much higher than 8% under the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme of 1997, he said. “It is not just 50%. Out of the remaining 50%, 25% would be kept by the government for four years. If you calculate interest on that, the effective tax comes out to be 65%,” the finance minister said.

On demonetisation, Jaitley expressed hope that the situation would normalise by the end of this month. “I should clarify that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that we will normalise the situation by December 30. We will try and minimise the hardship faced by the people. Every day RBI puts money into the system. Efforts are being made towards less-cash economy and digital economy,” he said.