Reducing the use of cash in the economy and attacking black money are wholesome goals. The Opposition’s criticism of demonetisation will carry no conviction, if it has nothing constructive to offer on how to achieve these goals. Akrosh does not cut it.
What can, however, is the Opposition parties mobilising volunteers to help ordinary people use their bank accounts to make payments. Anyone can, in principle, pay for vegetables or dal by transferring money from her own account to the vendor’s, clicking a few buttons on her phone — any old phone, it does not have to be a smartphone. The only requirement is that both the buyer and the seller must have bank accounts that are linked to their phone or Aadhaar. And they must know how to operate their accounts using a phone.
Stand With the Poor…
Demonetisation is not much of a challenge for those who live cosseted in an electronic banking ecosystem. The salaried classes who do not have unaccounted income and do not have to undertake a cash-intensive operation such as a wedding are unlikely to be majorly inconvenienced, except for having to pay their support staff with money they can spend. You can switch your shopping to big retailers that have card-swipe machines or you could explore the possibility of the small retailer accepting electronic transfers.
But if you are in Bettiah, Bihar, you will probably be unable to buy or sell anything without cash. The price of cauliflower in Bettiah’s mandi is reportedly down to Rs 1 a kilo, from Rs 20 BD (Before Demonetisation, what else?). The cauliflower grower is in distress. People who are unable to buy vegetables are in distress. Workers at the mandi are in distress. When distress is acute, the prime responsibility is to alleviate it, not try and score political points.
Another cash transaction because of lack of connectivity? Will fix it right now!
Suppose India were in the midst of a man-made famine of the kind Mao imposed on his country, with his order to finish off sparrows, compliance with which led to a population explosion among locusts that ate up the crops, resulting in mass starvation over 1959-61. What would the hungry masses appreciate more, the Opposition trying to organise soup kitchens or the Opposition staging protest marches in their name?
Right now, people in rural India are in distress. The Opposition cannot distribute cash. Cash has to be printed at the mint and distributed by the RBI across the country. While this proceeds apace, what people need is the means to make payments, in the absence of the usual medium of transaction: cash.
People can make use of the National Unified USSD Platform, created by the National Payments Corporation of India, to pay wages, and buy things using bank accounts. People just need to learn how.
USSD is a communication protocol used by telecommunication service providers to establish a two-way data connection between subscribers’ phones and designated computer servers. On any phone, if you dial *99# and press call, you get a basic banking menu. It begins with asking you to enter an identifier code for your bank. This is where you lose the typical villager.
…Not Just for Them
To transfer money from your account to another person’s using a phone anytime, any day, you need to know your bank’s code and must have generated two numbers: your mobile money identifier (MMID), a seven-digit number, and your four-digit Mobile Personal Identification Number (M-PIN). Armed with these, you are ready to send money, provided you know any of (a) the intended recipient’s MMID and phone number, (b) his account number and the Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) number of the bank/branch and (c) just his Aadhaar number.
Is it sensible to expect a barely literate/numerate villager to remember so many numbers? The only number he needs to remember is his four-digit M-PIN. Other numbers can be written down. A would-be recipient can always provide his own Aadhaar number to the payer.
If people do not have Aadhaar, they must be enrolled. Those still without bank accounts must be helped to open them. These accounts must be linked to their phone number and Aadhaar.
Then, they must be trained to use these resources already available in the system, to replace cash. Is helping the government achieve its goal the best way to oppose it? Reducing cash use is not a Modi-exclusive goal. The NPCI was set up in 2008, it started working in 2009. Aadhaar was envisaged and kicked off by the UPA. NUUP was fully functional before 2014. Now, when rural Indians are in dire straits, the goal should be to help them out.
If Opposition volunteers do not chip in, they can watch volunteers of the Sangh Parivar do the job and take credit for providing relief when people need it most.
How can the Opposition do its bit on black money? It can start collecting funds openly and disclose all of it, rather than just a fraction, as has been the practice so far. This would be a paradigm shift. But the country demands it. Whoever takes the lead will reap a big harvest.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.
