Country going through “dangerous” times: Mitra

Kolkata, November 25:

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said that the country was going through “dangerous” times in terms of political economy, I would submit this is a (Central) government that has many kinds of failures. In psychological terms, it’s a government of bravado chest-thumping, hit-and-miss processes, and disastrous decisions taken without consultation. The impact of this has been severe on sectors of the economy and people, he said.

On demonetisation, one senior BJP leader told me, ‘We are going to shift base from the traditional RSS base of small traders to the poor Demonetisation will bring antagonism between the poor and the relatively better off.’ The notion was to create a vote bank of the poor by antagony between the relatively better-off and the working class, ” Dr Mitra said.

On silence of corporates on demonetization, the state finance minister said, A very senior corporate person told me the other day that he has 31 cases against him. He is known to be transparent. Today, there is a psychosis of fear not only among corporates but also among chambers of commerce.ASSOCHAM had initially said that demonetisation was dangerous. But the next day the secretary general said, ‘Demonetisation was fine.’ I was told that the secretary-general was called from the appropriate office and told that ‘From tomorrow, no minister would go to any programme of ASSOCHAM.’ That meant the chamber would not be able to hold policy events. He was also told that international delegations would not visit the chamber. He cowed down. And within a month, he was removed, Dr Mitra said.

In one chamber of commerce meeting held in Kolkata behind closed doors, I said, ‘The GST has an arrest clause. Why doesn’t the chamber stand up and talk about it?’ Not a single body has said the clause is a problem The fear psychosis emanates like rays, one of which has hit the corporates, and another the chambers.

On cooperative federalism, he said, the Centre collects taxes from states and then returns a part of it. That’s a part of federalism. The devolution was raised from 32 per cent to 42 per cent by the 14th Finance Commission. But the same year, the Union Budget cut off (funds for) 58 projects (fully sponsored by the Centre), which includes police training and the Integrated Child Development Services.