{"id":2125,"date":"2018-08-02T11:24:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T05:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/34.22.110.190\/english\/?p=2125"},"modified":"2018-08-02T14:44:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T09:14:59","slug":"what-was-the-role-of-the-usa-to-forge-a-cashless-economy-in-india-just-prior-to-demonetisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/what-was-the-role-of-the-usa-to-forge-a-cashless-economy-in-india-just-prior-to-demonetisation\/","title":{"rendered":"What was the role of the USA to forge a \u2018cashless-economy\u2019 in India, just prior to Demonetisation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demonetisation \u2013 the \u2018Mother of Bad Ideas\u2019 \u2013 was the most critical policy action of the Modi Government, and also one of the most critical policy actions by any Government in the history of Independent India. But we still don\u2019t have any clear answers to a Mount Everest of unanswered questions: what really led to the policy decision, who was the actual adviser of the Government, whether any \u2018socio-economic viability study\u2019 was done before putting the entire nation through the ordeal, why the implementation slacked, what was the volume of the new notes which were printed, why The Reserve Bank of India<\/em> (RBI)<\/em> is still unable to release all the data pertaining to Demonetization and so on.<\/p>\n

We urgently need laws which will compel every Prime Minister \u2013 from any political party \u2013 to conduct open press conferences; we also need an official spokesperson of the PMO and the Government who will answer unscripted questions from the press and media. The misty opacity of Governmental doings needs to be cleared with policies which favour openness and transparency.<\/p>\n

We all know that nothing has been more opaque than Demonetisation Policy and the people have the right to know the truth in the midst of organised propaganda, spins, myth making and psychological operations.<\/p>\n

As a nation, we need to understand, why we suffered \u2013 and still suffering \u2013 and who are the actual beneficiaries of our collective angst, trauma and loss of well-being.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Cashless Society <\/strong><\/p>\n

During the first few weeks after 8\/11, the Modi Government flip-flopped about the objectives of Demonetisation, and ultimately admitted that the goal is also to create a \u2018cashless-economy\u2019, and then, a \u2018less-cash economy\u2019.<\/p>\n

In November 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s monthly speech on national radio, he exhorted everyone to embrace the \u2018digital world\u2019 and said \u2018We can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society\u2019.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Now, we all know that the \u2018cashless\u2019 \/ \u2018less-cash\u2019 goal has abysmally backfired: the amount of cash in the economy hasn\u2019t only returned to the pre-8\/11 level, but actually exceeded it in April this year. The cons of the Demonetization policy clearly outweighed the pros. Catastrophic damage was done to the organised and unorganised sectors, economy slowed down, job losses ensued, lives were lost, people\u2019s livelihoods were disrupted and\u00a0 the reduction of 1.5 % in the GDP \u2013 as predicted by Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh \u2013 amounted to a unrecoverable loss of 3-4 lakh crores.<\/p>\n

While few things have become unquestionable and obvious, the unquantifiable psychological damage, loss of confidence on our institutions and the full-spectrum of the adverse chain-reactions of the policy will still take several years to grasp and to understand.<\/p>\n

But what is not widely known is the role of The United States of America to forge a \u2018digital economy\u2019 aka \u2018cashless-economy\u2019 in India, and this needs to be known, understood and spoken about in context of Demonetisation.<\/p>\n

Modi Government, Obama Admin and Cashless Catalyst <\/strong><\/p>\n

In January 2017, one article \u2013 A Well-Kept Open Secret: Washington is Behind India’s Brutal Experiment of Abolishing Most Cash<\/em><\/a> <\/span>by German economist and business journalist Norbert H\u00e4ring \u2013 received widespread traction on social media and in the sphere of Western Independent Media, but the story \u2013 a vital aspect to understand Demonetisation \u2013 wasn\u2019t widely picked up by the Indian media except for a few, including The Citizen.<\/p>\n

I spend several weeks in researching about the things which the article pointed towards. I was convinced enough to imbibe a couple of articles \u2013 one by Norbert H\u00e4ring and another by F. William Engdahl \u2013 in a fictional story \u2013 Demonetisation Tales: The Ghost Detective<\/em><\/span><\/a> \u2013 that I published in the Punch Magazine to commemorate the first anniversary of 8\/11 in November 2017 and to capture the event in literature.<\/p>\n

Exposed to the constant organised propaganda by the establishment, one gets manipulated at a conscious and unconscious level that compels \u2018self-censorship in thinking\u2019. One feels the impulse to dismiss truth as imagination or even a \u2018conspiracy theory\u2019 when one encounters a hidden aspect, new information or a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n

In order to defeat the impulse, one only needs to visit the website http:\/\/cashlesscatalyst.org\/<\/a> that says at the bottom of the home page \u2018CATALYST is an initiative funded by USAID under the mSTAR Program, through funding provided to FHI 360. Housed within IFMR LEAD, the initiative aims to expand digital payments and financial inclusion in India, especially for small merchants and low-income consumers.\u2019<\/p>\n

In About<\/span><\/a>, it says that the aim is \u2018to increase adoption of digital payments in India, using a targeted ecosystem approach\u2019 and \u2018our vision is to realize an inclusive digital economy\u2026.\u2019<\/p>\n

When scrolls down About<\/em><\/span><\/a>, one comes to the following \u2013 whose screenshots are presented \u2013 that tells a story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

In January 2017, Tony Joseph also wrote a series of articles \u2013 one of them is Understanding demonetisation: Who is behind the war on cash (and why)<\/em><\/span><\/a> published in The Scroll \u2013 that pointed out that India joined \u2018Better than Cash\u2019 Alliance in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u2018Better than Cash\u2019 Alliance is one of the many partners<\/span><\/a> of Catalyst that include \u2018anchor partner\u2019 Niti Aayog.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

So things finally fall in place: Modi Government signs understanding and formalizes partnership with the Obama administration in 2015, USAID and US corporations \u2013 along with select US foundations \u2013 get involved, studies are conducted and reports submitted to the Indian Government, Catalyst launches in October 2016 and Demonetization \u2013 that also gave a catalyst to \u2018cashless society\u2019, private Fintech companies, banking sector, financial surveillance and technocratic digitalization\u00a0 \u2013 is announced on 8 November 2016 as a fight against corruption, black money, terrorism funding, hawala transaction and so on, and then the objectives widen subsequently to include the creation of \u2018cashless-economy\u2019 \/ \u2018less-cash economy\u2019 \/ \u2018cashless-society\u2019.<\/p>\n

We now understand that even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be held responsible for his brainchild \u2018Demonetization Policy\u2019, but the goal to forge \u2018cashless society\u2019 wasn\u2019t originally ideated by him, but was ideated by Western powers, and was simply \u2018marketed\u2019 and implemented in India.<\/p>\n

One would also want the Government to respond to the scheme of events, as laid out in the website of cashlesscatalyst.org and answer this vital question: to what extent did this \u2018cashless\u2019 policy collaboration with the USA influence Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s policy of Demonetization?<\/p>\n

The Larger Question <\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do we need a \u2018cashless society\u2019 anyway? People never demanded \u2018cashless society\u2019 nor was the totalitarian idea introduced, debated and decided upon in the Indian Parliament.<\/p>\n

We also know, advanced economies like that of Japan and of Germany, prefer to use a high percentage of cash, and they also fall in the group of the least corrupt of all nations.<\/p>\n

So who really benefits from \u2018cashless society\u2019?<\/p>\n

Few days ago, The Guardian<\/em> published an article by Brett Scott The cashless society is a con \u2013 and big finance is behind it<\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brett Scott writes about what is now a universal phenomenon \u2018Financial institutions, likewise, are trying to nudge us\u00a0towards a cashless society and digital banking. The true motive is corporate profit. Payments companies such as Visa and Mastercard want to increase the volume\u00a0of digital payments services they sell, while banks want to cut costs. The nudge requires two parts. First, they must increase the inconvenience of cash, ATMs and branches. Second, they must vigorously promote the alternative. They seek to make people \u201clearn\u201d that they want digital, and then \u201cchoose\u201d it.\u2019<\/p>\n

The larger question is why are the elected governments worldwide \u2013 including that of India \u2013 agreeing to impose policies promoted by \u2013 whom Brett Scot calls \u2018Big Finance\u2019 or the unelected western banking \/ financial elites?<\/p>\n

Why the policies and the agenda of the unelected one tenth of the global 1%\u00a0 \u2013 from the creation of \u2018cashless societies\u2019 to \u2018data is the new oil\u2019 \u2013 are being pushed by the elected governments, biased think-tanks, crony intellectuals and pro-establishment \/ pro-plutocracy media to the people around the world?<\/p>\n

The answer to the above is simply \u2013 what Brett Scott pointed out: \u2018corporate profit\u2019 masked under noble cause of public good.<\/p>\n

It is also clear that people never demanded \u2018cashless society\u2019: it is being imposed on us by our own elected governments with the collaboration of unelected \u2018Big Finance\u2019.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

In our neoliberal world of state-sponsored \u2018digital terrorism\u2019, where national interest \u2013 when spoken by the governments \u2013 actually implies corporate interest, it doesn\u2019t matter to the Modi Government whether it is really beneficial to push US backed neoliberal policies in India. Nor does it consider whether the technocratic policies of an advanced high income nation of the West will work for a low-middle-income developing nation of Asia.<\/p>\n

The irony is that the \u2018hyper nationalist\u2019 Modi regime is imposing the \u2018western neoliberal template\u2019 \u2013 ideated by the Brett Scott\u2019s \u2018Big Finance\u2019 \u2013 in India without any sensible consideration or critical thinking or larger public debate, and causing more damage and misery, than any lasting good for the people of our nation.<\/p>\n

A \u2018fully privatized\u2019 government won\u2019t be able to address the issues of the people. Inequality would continue to accelerate and more power, wealth and privilege will continue to concentrate in the hands of a few. Numbers will show growth and stock markets will rise, but life will get harder: the Human Development Indices will fall, the poor will be trampled and the Middle Class will get choked.<\/p>\n

We need a genuinely pro-people government, not a government of the western financial elites, the big corporations and the Indian super-rich that pretends<\/em> to be pro-people.<\/p>\n

Our sovereignty to choose our own economic and foreign policies also shouldn\u2019t be in danger. Our government needs to protect the interests of the people of India, and avoid collaborating with elite foreign powers to impose unwise policies \u2013 which are also damaging western societies \u2013 upon us.<\/p>\n

One has to write a separate article to point out the socio-economic devastation, loss of civil liberties and massive inequality caused by neoliberal policies in the West, which are now being mindlessly imported into India.<\/p>\n

The reckless experimentation to forge a \u2018cashless society\u2019 has caused unprecedented loss and suffering, comparable to the brutal misdeeds of the colonial past.<\/p>\n

But colonialism is not dead; it has resurfaced as neo-colonialism in the guise of pro-corporatism neoliberal ideology \u2013 that Noam Chomsky ideates is destroying democracy\u00a0<\/a> \u2013\u00a0 which is in the process to re-colonize the world on the behalf of unelected western elites \u2013 Brett Scott\u2019s \u2018Big Finance\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sovereignty and Demonetization Enquiry <\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue of sovereignty \u2013 to choose economic and foreign policies which might not synchronise with the policies backed by the dominant Western powers: US and \u2018Big Finance\u2019 \u2013 is also a crucial issue of our times.<\/p>\n

I hope greater awareness and public debates will ensue in the regard to the collaboration\/coercion\/meddling by vested foreign powers \u2013 elected and unelected \u2013 upon the policies of India, the dangers of becoming a vassal \/ client state and losing our traditional non-aligned status.<\/p>\n

Sovereignty lies at the very root of moral, intellectual, emotional and spiritual nourishment of a person, and also of a nation. India has fought the brutal exploitation of colonialism and imperialism to gain sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the battle is not over; we suddenly need to fight in the 21st<\/sup> century to keep it that way.<\/p>\n

Now there is a need to protect ourselves \u2013 our democracy, constitutional rights and civil liberties \u2013 from being indirectly re-colonised via imperial policies of globalist corporate totalitarianism \u2013 from \u2018cashless society\u2019 to \u2018data mining\u2019, from \u2018digital surveillance\u2019 to \u2018centralised technocratic control\u2019 \u2013 that is being facilitated by our own \u2018nationalist\u2019 government.<\/p>\n

The other features of the neoliberal ideology is to expand privatisation, increase cost of living, create debt based society, extract high taxes from the people, reduce welfare and subsidies and funnel the increased tax collection \u2013 tax-payers money \u2013 to select corporations \u2013 through governmental contracts, dodgy defence deals and misplaced spending, and thereby causing severe imbalance in development, fall in human development indices and chronic inequality.<\/p>\n

The key opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and Mamata Banerjee have already voiced their support for \u2018Demonetization Enquiry\u2019 that would investigate all the aspects, reveal all the truths and answer all the pending questions.<\/p>\n

Along with the promise of a \u2018demonetization investigation\u2019, we also need to see the issue of \u2018sovereignty\u2019 in the unified opposition\u2019s manifesto in 2019. This will only gather them more support.<\/p>\n

The Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n

After the miserable failures of the \u2018development\u2019 and \u2018good governance\u2019 planks \u2013 which largely brought Narendra Modi in power in 2014,\u00a0 the regime is increasing moving towards outright communal and polarisation agendas in its bid for re-election.<\/p>\n

The toxic brew of hate and greed \u2013 desi<\/em> Hindutva ideology and videsi <\/em>Neoliberal ideology \u2013 is causing crisis, after crisis, in India. The socio-cultural engineering mission of Hindutva and economic engineering mission of Neoliberalism are choking our people, diluting our democracy and rupturing the societal fabric.<\/p>\n

Those who are aligned with the ideals of our Constitution need to do what they can to prevent the gradual transformation of our country to an \u2018authoritarian theocratic plutocratic totalitarian corporatocracy\u2019: a neoliberal Hindutva Rashtra.<\/p>\n

As things stand now, there is no other alternative but to replace the Modi regime in 2019. The much required course-correction cannot be expected from the present leadership.<\/p>\n

But the irony is: the adventurism of the Modi Government \u2013 along with the US \/ \u2018Big Finance\u2019\u2013 to create \u2018cashless-economy\u2019 \/ \u2018less-cash economy\u2019 in India is more likely to lead to \u2013 along with other factors such as opposition unity \u2013 to \u2018voteless BJP\u2019 \/ \u2018less-vote BJP\u2019 during the most crucial of all General Elections in the history of independent India.<\/p>\n

[The views expressed belong solely to the author, and may not reflect the opinions of the editorial team]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The toxic brew of hate and greed \u2013 desi Hindutva ideology and videsi Neoliberal ideology \u2013 is causing crisis, after crisis, in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":2131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"tmauthors":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2125"},{"taxonomy":"tmauthors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebengalstory.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tmauthors?post=2125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}