Google Pay, Phone Pe two 'ticking' time bombs, says LS member Supriya Sule
New Delhi, Feb 9: NCP MP Supriya Sule on Friday alleged that apps like Google Pay and Phone Pe are "two ticking time bombs" and sought to know what steps the government is taking to check money laundering.
Participating in a discussion on 'The White Paper on Indian economy' in Lok Sabha, Sule said whatever happened in Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) is "very alarming" and is almost like money laundering.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month directed PPBL to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags and other instruments after February 29.
The RBI said persistent non-compliance by Paytm with regulatory guidelines despite nudges over a period of time ultimately led to stern action against the fintech.
"Google Pay, Phone Pe are two sitting time bombs. BHIM app is hardly used while Google Pay and Phone Pe apps are used (widely). What is the government doing on digital or cashless economy?" Sule said.
JMM leader Vijay Kumar Hansdak accused the government of misusing ED, CBI and Income Tax against opposition MPs.
Hansdak said a white paper should be brought on the misuse of central agencies.
"Their (BJP) government is running because of ED. Otherwise they won't be able to win elections," Hansdak, who represents the Rajmahal constituency of Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha, said.
BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said the corruption seen in the 10 years of UPA government was unprecedented. During UPA's tenure, people would take loans and forget about returning it, he said.
Participating in the debate, Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) said the white paper is more rhetoric than substance.
He urged the government to explain why average growth was higher at 6.8 per cent during the 10 years of UPA while during the NDA period it is 5.9 per cent.
In case of fiscal deficit as the percentage of GDP, average was 4.7 per cent during UPA rule, but it is 5.1 per cent under the 10 years of NDA.
Average inflation rate was 8 per cent, which came down to 5 per cent during the NDA government that came to power in 2014.
Owaisi also said the NDA government got the benefit of favourable crude oil prices and urged the government to tell the country how demonetisation adversely impacted the country's poor.
IUML MP E T Mohammed Basheer said, "This paper is for BJP, by the BJP, of the BJP and for the election of BJP."
He further said that the Congress-led UPA government brought various important legislations like Right to Information, Right to Education, and introduced MNREGA for welfare of the poor people.
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Don't depend on freebies, produce your own solar power: Union Minister Prahlad Joshi
Mangaluru (Karnataka) Jan 2: Union Minister for Renewable Energy Prahlad Joshi urged people on Thursday not to be dependent on the governments for freebies, but to produce their own solar power.
Joshi attended a consultative meeting with the consumers, electricity supply company (ESCOM) officials, and people's representatives to discuss Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana here on Thursday.
"I will not comment on what the motives were behind the distribution of free power generated using environmentally harmful core sector material. But sustainability in the power sector is going to be the key to a safer future for the country," said Joshi, who is also the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
According to Joshi, Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15, 2024 aims to provide free electricity to households in India by providing a subsidy to install solar panels on their roofs. The subsidy will cover up to 40 percent of the cost of the solar panels.
He said with the free schemes involving non-renewable sources, somebody still has to pay a price.
"In this bargain, so many short cuts will have to be taken by the implementation bodies in the form of cutting production costs, thereby becoming unproductive and ending up sick," said Joshi.
Recalling the time he was a coal minister, Joshi said the cost being paid is enormous for what is being distributed as "free".
"I remember the statistics: 2.5 lakh tonnes of coal were being mined at enormous cost and environmental degradation, transported to the thermal power producers, and the process of producing thermal power involved a very high cost," he added.
Joshi also said the other renewable energy sources the government was looking at for development in the future, tidal, wind, and geothermal power are on the anvil.
"Research and product development are underway in these forms of energy.
The solar power management is also undergoing ground breaking research and product development, which will extend the life of solar power units from 25 years to 40 years. Their installed capacity will also increase, and the cost is going to be rationalised depending on the demand," added Joshi.
He said there is scientific data available that by 2050, the heat on earth is going to reach 'critical' levels.
"If we do not buckle up and use fewer heat-generating power modules, we may reach there even by 2030," Joshi pointed out.
He also pointed to Rajasthan and Gujarat, which experienced temperatures rising up to 50 degrees Celsius in 2024, as examples.
"If the temperature retains its upward tendencies, it is projected that the GDP will come down by 19 percent as a result of manpower loss due to fatigue and health issues of the human resource," said Joshi.
According to him, India has already achieved 93.5 gigawatts of solar power from 2.3 GW, 10 years ago.
"The country has solar modules that have an installed capacity of producing 60GW. With 300 days of sunny days, a family of five people can comfortably use solar power for all their electrical gadgets," Joshi added.
Brijesh Chowta MP of Dakshina Kannada also spoke on the occasion.
