Representative image showing black money.
Credit: iStock Photo
Recover all black money stashed abroad by Indian citizens and deposit into each and every citizen’s bank account, a private member’s bill introduced in Rajya Sabha has recommended.
The ‘Black Money Recovery Act, 2022’ tabled by DMK MP M Mohammed Abdulla earlier this month puts a cap of Rs 15 lakh, which could be transferred to a citizen.
Any remaining amount should be shared with state governments, which should be calculated by percentage of Gross State Domestic Production (GSDP) as on March 2022.
According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill, black money held by Indians have increased by more than 50 per cent in the last eight years and when recovered, these could be used to improve the quality of life of each and every citizen in the country.
The Bill proposes that the government should formulate a 'national policy' for the recovery of black money stashed abroad and a “managing committee” headed by the Finance Minister and 16 other members, including MPs, should be formed to “monitor, supervise and coordinate” the distribution of funds.
According to the bill, the money should be deposited in a dedicated account in SBI called ‘Public Fund of India ‘ in 14 days of the recovery. “All members, officers and staff of the (managing) committee shall work purely on an honorary basis and no salary should be paid to them,” it says.
The committee should also hold a meeting every 15 days.
Besides Abdulla’s bill, 61 other private members bills have been introduced in Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session so far.
Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Priyanka Chaturvedi introduced The Facial Recognition Technology (Regulation of Police Powers) Bill, 2023, seeking to provide for a framework to regulate, control and define powers of the police agencies and central investigative agencies to use facial recognition technologies for the purposes of identification, investigation and inquiries of criminal offences.
DMK's Kanimozhi NVN Somu's bill sought special financial assistance for Tamil Nadu to provide sustainable and balanced development of growth-oriented infrastructure, welfare schemes for women, children, senior citizens and people living below the poverty line and encouraging traditional water conservation through lakes, ponds, wells, rainwater harvesting and afforestation.
BRS MP KR Suresh Reddy introduced The Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2022 to effectively prevent and combat hate speech and hate crimes, their negative effects on individuals, groups and societies, and to protect the constitutional values of autonomy, dignity and equality.
The Right to Free Internet Bill, 2023 moved by Dr V Sivadasan of CPI(M) sought to provide for free internet access to all the citizens in the country. His other bill -- The Right to Public Space Bill, 2023 -- sought to provide for free access to public space to all citizens.