RBI Chief Should Work With Government Or Quit: RSS Economic Wing Head
NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India governor should work in sync with the central government to support economic growth or he should resign, said the head of the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is the ideological mentor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party, the BJP.
RBI Governor Urjit Patel should also "restrain his officials from making differences public," said the RSS official, Ashwani Mahajan, in an interview on Wednesday. "If he doesn't follow discipline it would be better for him to resign," he added.
Mr Mahajan is chief of the RSS's Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) economic group.
Earlier in the day, some TV channels reported that Mr Patel could consider resigning from his post given a breakdown in relations with the government, sparking a sell-off in the rupee and bonds.
Tensions between the RBI and the government have become increasingly public after the bank's Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said last Friday night that undermining central bank independence could be "potentially catastrophic".
His comments indicated that the RBI was pushing back against government pressure to relax its policies and reduce its powers ahead of a general election due by May.
In a statement, the government said on Wednesday the RBI's independence was "an essential and accepted governance requirement" but it added that it would continue to extensively consult with the central bank to give its assessments on issues and suggest possible solutions.
Government officials on Wednesday declined to say whether it had for the first time ever used, or threatened to use, powers under the RBI Act that allow it to give the bank instructions. The Economic Times newspaper reported the government had sent letters to Mr Patel in recent weeks exercising those powers.
Mr Mahajan said that the government had every right to use the powers of the RBI act.
Foreign Influence Concerns
RSS's Manch is critical of the central bank's hawkish monetary stance, and has criticised the influence in recent years of foreign trained economists including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and former chief economic adviser at the finance ministry, Arvind Subramanian.
Mr Mahajan said the central bank and the government should work in tandem to achieve a higher economic growth rate along with lower inflation.
While opposing the appointment of any foreign trained economists at the central bank, he said there was no dearth of "talented persons" with nationalist vision on the RBI board, one of whom could replace Mr Patel if he resigned.
He said higher interest rates were hitting small businesses and there was a need to provide relief to save millions of jobs.
"RBI is adamant, ignoring India's ground realities," he said.
The Manch chief also said the RBI should agree to allow the government to take much of its surplus of cash reserves, estimated at nearly 3.6 trillion rupees ($48.67 billion), so that they could be invested, bolstering economic growth.
Earlier, a senior finance ministry official said that the government would like the central bank to pay the government a higher dividend considering the size of the reserves.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Women's bill: This is democracy, not Hitler rule, says Dy CM Shivakumar
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday criticised the BJP-led Centre over the timing and handling of the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill, saying the opposition was not taken into confidence.
He also called for wider consultation in a democratic framework.
The deputy CM said the Congress has consistently supported women’s reservation, but objected to the manner in which the Bill was brought forward, alleging that it was introduced without adequate discussion with opposition parties.
“This is democracy; this is not a Hitler-style rule. They cannot bring it in the middle of elections and try to alter the entire constituencies,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
The Deputy Chief Minister maintained that the move should have been discussed across party lines.
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“They have to take everyone into confidence, but they have not done that. That is why the opposition parties have done a very good job. So, it is a victory of the INDIA alliance,” Shivakumar, who is Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
He was speaking about the setback to the BJP-led Central government, where a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday, with the ruling dispensation asserting that the struggle to give the rights to women will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Responding to BJP’s charge that the Congress is anti-women, he said, “This is not anyone’s personal property—women are the nation’s asset. We had passed this in the Rajya Sabha and Congress has already given 50 per cent reservation to women in local bodies. Even today, we support it.”
Alleging that the proposed changes could impact regional representation, Shivakumar said, “Without consulting us, they are trying to redraw constituencies, giving more weight to North India and reducing representation in South India. No one can tolerate this.”
He added that leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and several South Indian Chief Ministers have opposed the move, terming the defeat of the bills a "major victory for democracy".
The Congress Karnataka chief asserted that the Congress and the INDIA bloc stand firmly in support of women’s rights.
