Parliamentary Panel: Tackling black money needs political will

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary committee has said that tackling the menace of black money will require “immense” political will while expressing hope that the government will follow up on its decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, which the Centre had said was partly aimed at tackling black money.

It has pitched for simplification, rationalisation and reduction in taxes, cutting regulations and curtailing discretionary powers of government officials to bring down corruption.

“Tackling black money would require political will and legal/ administrative/ diplomatic heavylifting.... the committee hopes that the government would meticulously follow up strongly on its demonetisation move,” a report by the Rajya Sabha committee on subordinate legislation of finance ministry said.

It said the ministry must ensure that the menace of fake currency does not enter the Indian economy. Pointing out that “the growth of corruption in India is due to maze of regulations and thickets of red tapism”, the report called for curtailing powers of officials and rationalising taxes while widening the tax net. The panel said it expects the finance ministry to take proactive measures to revive sectors that have still not been able to recover from the adverse effects of demonetisation.