THRISSUR: Hitting out at social-media campaigns praising the way the recently concluded G20 summit was held under the presidency of India, political economist, commentator and author Parakala Prabhakar said they made it seem as if all world leaders were on bended knees seeking the country’s advice.
Speaking at a programme organised by Samadarshi, a Thrissur-based cultural and social organisation, he said, “This was how the central government wanted its regular role as rotational head of the G20 portrayed.”
Training his guns on demonetisation, Prabhakar pointed out that jobs that were lost to the measure never made its back to the market, affecting the lives of many people. “The national unemployment rate is at a 45-year high. Our youth joblessness is among the highest in the world, on par with countries such as Lebanon and Syria,” he rued.
Introducing his book The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis, the social critic said, “If there was one factor of good governance in demonetisation, they (central government) would have bombarded the country with praise and achievement of implementing it.”
“One claim that the central government made was that demonetisation would curb the circulation of black money. Do you think industrialists, or so-called businessmen, keep black money as liquid cash? They transform it into property or land, which is known to all,” he said.
“Another claim was about terror funding. It is also a known fact that terrorists get funding through the drug business and weapons. Digitisation and the related doing away of the cash economy was another claim. According to recent data, currency circulation in the country stood at 35 lakh crore, while it was just 17.5 lakh crore at the time of demonetisation,” Prabhakar added.