India is a democratic country. In a democracy, governance and economic control must be governed by rules and regulations. If this is our democratic rule, then the source of black money here should be reduced. And the black money system.
The source of black money is the exploitation opportunities and the facilities available to conceal exploited money where the vulnerabilities of the legal system and financial control persist. This is not to grow the economy but to weaken it. Unfortunately, in the democratic governance of India, black money is increasing day by day. The rulers and the people are equally involved.
The black money system destroys social justice. The country’s economic base is being disrupted. This is due to inadequacies in the legal system and regulations and inefficiency in governance. India’s democratic governance offers ample opportunity for all this.
The rules have no clarity or accuracy. They are not equally important. It has no cohesive nature. Bureaucratic practices and regulations do not comply with the rules and penalties and justice served by the courts. It’s too late. Innocents are punished. The criminals escape. It is rare for offenders to be sentenced to life imprisonment after appeals and reviews, even if convicted. One has to wonder if black money does not exist in a system of government where so many opportunities exist.
The nature of exploitation exists in every human being. It does not make any difference whether it is a developed country, a developing country or an underdeveloped country. Strong and just legal restrictions keep people away from this. That is why power, selfishness, money and luxury drive our democracy today. Citizens are looking for different ways to make money.
Power, status, tax evasion, money laundering, network marketing, hooliganism, harassment, murder, bribery, red belt, financial budgeting, blade, banking, political struggle, conference, organised power, pollution, environment, water supply, social security, energy supply, contract works and commission are different ways of exploitation that exist in our democracy.
All of these are exploited opportunistically. Morality and social justice become irrelevant during this competition. Here the relevance of money and power increases. Our democratic system provides many facilities for such illegal fundraising. The most important of these are real estate, building construction and interest.
In real estate and building construction, the actual amount is often hidden from view. Money is flowing from one person to another. You can hide any amount of money without showing it in the account. Demand is growing. It is in these areas that the illicit money of many elites is invested. In addition to this, those who have power and money deposit their ill-gotten gains in foreign banks. Thus, the money of our country is being smuggled out of the country.
If the media reports are accurate, the illicit money deposited in Swiss banks is worth more than $50 billion. That is more than ₹30 lakh crore. We must remember that this is money that would have helped us develop our infrastructure.
The money is to be inflated. But the need for money is to sustain life and increase living facilities. But it has some limitations. Funding above this limit is increasing. This natural inflation will be justified and unfair. It makes sense when inflation is good for society. This is possible by increasing productivity, employment, agriculture, industry and commerce.
Social justice and social security must be ensured if inflation is to be possible. Democracy needs to focus on such things. Otherwise, people will seek self-defence. Inflation will be unfair. That will lead to a black money system. This is what is happening in our democracy today.
Morality disappears from society as a result of competition and parasitism for illicit money in the black money system. Social justice is irrelevant. Thus, the great Indian culture itself disappears from us. In the meanwhile, money accumulates in a small community. The majority of society is giving way to financial and psychological distress, stress and suicidal tendencies.
The black money system, on the one hand creates social insecurity and on the other hand leads to infrastructure development. Everyone is reluctant to pay taxes. It is important to realise that our country is not particularly benefited by the tax money paid.
It should not be overlooked that in our democratic system of government, where corruption is rampant, taxation may not be as effective as it should be, but the amount of money available to the government for the development of the infrastructure required for the development of the country is declining. The very existence of the black money system means that money for development is being set aside, misused and wasted through unnecessary spending.
Individual governance does not exist in our democracy. The administration itself does not know who the citizen is or what his financial status is. In our democracy, there are special conditions for providing financial assistance to deserving citizens, but they are not observed. This is a fact that makes it difficult to prevent money laundering. Local self-government bodies can effectively control individual governance.
In our democracy, only those who pay income tax are above a certain income threshold. But the financial situation of the citizen can be understood to some extent if all adults, commercial entrepreneurs and charitable organisations are required to file income tax in the respective local bodies.
Also, the adult citizen is required to report his or her personal information, financial sources, and assets to the local authorities and update them annually. Money laundering could have been curtailed to some extent if the government had been required to charge a certain percentage of the excess assets if it was convinced based on evidence that there was more than one such asset.
The black money system is the leading cause of corruption and injustice in our society. This is the dangerous curse of our democracy. If this is to change, legal restrictions, financial restrictions and penalties must be strengthened. Individual governance should be based on local self-government.