The apparent “secrecy’’ shrouding the Centre’s decision to scrap the 10 per cent import duty on wheat and the hurried way in which it was announced in Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has ruffled feathers in the government as well as the Opposition. An inter-ministerial group, which is usually consulted before any decision related to agricultural commodities is taken, was not kept in the loop, some officials complained. “It seems the Food Ministry and the PMO decided on the matter. The need to consult others was not felt,” an official who has participated in inter-ministerial group meetings in the past said.

The Opposition, which was caught by surprise in Lok Sabha as the item on wheat was not even placed in the list of business, is indignant. It argues that farmers engaged in distress sale of wheat due to non-availability of cash will be hit further by the decision. Perhaps, the government needs to be reminded that all decisions are not as sensitive as the one on demonetisation, and for that reason required to be kept secret.

Jaitley’s wit intact

If you thought ‘demonetisation’ has robbed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of sense of humour, hear this. The subject of Jaitley’s typically grey humour was his junior colleague, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, at the Petrotech 2016. Taking the stage to deliver his valedictory address after Pradhan, Jaitley said: “My colleague Dharmendra Pradhan has almost announced the closure of this Petrotech and I’ve been asked to speak after that announcement.” This evoked embarrassed laughter.

Missing the audience

As if on a roll, Jaitley, while acknowledging the importance of oil in world economy, took a dig at his political colleagues in Opposition, who have been disrupting Parliament. “It is a great relief to see that after three days of continuously discussing the challenges and prospects of the energy sector, we can still get a full hall in Vigyan Bhawan. That’s a tribute to the interest that Petrotech 2016 has generated. For me also it is a relief because it provides me with an audience which is otherwise denied in Parliament these days.”

Bus promotion

When Arvind Kejriwal and team launched the odd-even formula in Delhi, shut down diesel power generator sets, banned construction, it unsurprisingly evoked opposition. But, the result is that the level of pollution is lower than it might have been. “I am not saying it is under control, but we would have been in a very dangerous zone if these efforts would not have been there,” Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi said.

But, a lot more needs to be done. And this is what Sisodia proposes. “We are trying to attract youth to opt for buses. I have asked my departments to calculate the cost of digitally issuing free bus passes to youth and students. Bus occupancy is 60 per cent of the seats on average. In order to ensure higher occupancy, the option to offer passes for senior citizens is also open. A good music system in buses can be used to attract people to opt for them.”

Let’s sell mBuddy also

“Confused”, is how Sisodia terms Modi government on dealing with the after-effects of demonetisation. “Initially they called it black money, then they said terrorism funding, then it was to stop fake currency, but now all these alibis are over... terrorists are getting new currency notes, fake currency is coming in the market, black money menace does not appear to be stopping... so the Government has now moved from black money to cashless transaction, which cannot be forced,” he said.

But if you are promoting cashless transaction then why not talk of very own SBI’s mBuddy app rather than Paytm? he asks. Valid question.

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