Let’s Hail the Dissent Verdict of Justice B.V. Nagarathna
With reference to the decision on demonetisation by a 5-Judge bench of the Supreme Court, I like to appreciate the dissent view of the solitary judge, Hon’ble B.V. Nagarathna, who expressed her fearless, independent, righteous and unprejudiced opinion considering the plight of common citizens who had faced a number of problems due to the harsh and unprincipled decision taken by the Central Government. Moreover, it may be said that she represented the woman community as honest in speaking the truth.
Md. Salim
Kolkata, West Bengal
Demonetisation was Misconceived and Unnecessary
The Supreme Court, in its judgement on demonetisation, has cleared the mechanism of taking the decision by the government and whether due process was properly followed.But it has not endorsed the necessity of demonetisation or the manner of its implementation.
That demonetisation was misconceived and unnecessary has been brought out in many forums. The introduction of the `2,000 note created snafus at ATMs, and was out of context with shopping practices resulting in many small shopkeepers refusing supply of goods when proffered this note.
Instead of reducing black money it allowed more black money to be stored in the same space. These facts have now been implicitly proven since the `2,000 note is almost out of normal circulation.The government is not able to demonetise or withdraw this note since it would immediately attract attention to demonetisation with accusations that no purpose was served by this measure.
Apart from this, there was the pain inflicted on common people during the withdrawal of the old currency notes and replacement with the new notes that led to many lives being lost even in the queues formed in front of banks.Thereafter, the disruption of businesses leading to the closure of many MSMEs is a fact that cannot be denied. These aspects are not part of the legal scrutiny by the Supreme Court.
S Kamat
Goa
Recognition of Kannada as Classical Language‘An Eyewash’
The Government has recognised Kannada as a classical language. However, Dr Doddarange Gowda, President of Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana said it seems to be ‘an eyewash tactics’ from central government as there has been huge disparity in allocation of funds for the development of Kananda language compared to other languages.
While delivering his presidential speech at the 86th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana at Haveri on January 6, he said,“When it comes to allocation of funds for the classical language Kannada, there is a huge gulf between Tamil Nadu and us.” He added that between 2017 and 2020 the Union government released `643 crore for the classical languages of India. In the same period,it allocated only `3 crore for the research and study on Kannada while Tamil Nadu received `42 crore for development of its language between 2017 and 2021.
He asked the government to release additional funds. This is how bias and prejudice is prevailing everywhere.
- Rajasekhar
Bangaluru, Karnataka
India’s Economic Growth to Slow down
India’s economic growth is to slow down. It is said to slow in the financial year ending on March 31.The reasons they cite are pandemic-related distortions ease and pent-up demand for goods levels out going into 2023.GDP will likely rise 7% in the current fiscal year compared with 8.7% the previous year. The preliminary overall projection is lower than the government’s earlier forecast of 8% to 8.5% but above the central bank’s 6.8%.
This economic slowdown will hit the poor most. The Government should make concerted efforts to contain the economic slowdown.
Wasim Akram
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh