Modi asks BJP MPs, MLAs to submit their bank account details to Amit Shah

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed all Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarians and legislative assembly members to submit their bank transaction details from 8 November to 31 December to party president Amit Shah on 1 January 2017.

At BJP’s parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, the prime minister told BJP parliamentarians that changes introduced in the bill to amend the Income Tax (I-T) Act will help in using money looted from the poor for their welfare.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had announced the decision to demonetise high-value currency notes on 8 November.

“The amendment is not for turning black money into white but to spend the money looted from the poor on their welfare,” parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar told media after Modi’s speech at the BJP meeting. The minister also said amendments introduced in the I-T Act were part of the government’s steps to eradicate black money and corruption.

Kumar further said the tax collected on the money deposited under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan scheme will be spent on electricity, roads, toilets and education, among other welfare measures. The government on Monday proposed another income disclosure scheme—less than two months after the closure of an earlier scheme—but on more stringent terms and entailing a higher compliance burden. Part of the money collected will be channelled into a fund for the welfare of the poor.

The proposal is part of the taxation laws (second amendment) bill 2016, introduced in the Lok Sabha by finance minister Arun Jaitley; it includes the new Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016. The scheme is likely to run till 30 December, although there has been no formal communication on this.

Under the proposed income disclosure scheme, a person can declare undisclosed income, pay a tax of 30% and penalty of 10% on undisclosed income and a surcharge called Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Cess of 33% on the tax, all of which totals up to around 50%.

The bill has been tabled as a money bill, ensuring it does not encounter the challenge of clearing the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority.

Meanwhile, both houses of Parliament witnessed repeated adjournments on Tuesday as the opposition parties continued their demand that the prime minister should attend the demonetisation debate in Parliament.

Kumar said the government is ready for discussion from the first day of the winter session and Modi will also intervene in both houses if the opposition wanted. The opposition wants discussion under Rule 56 which entails voting, a condition unacceptable to the government.