Baba Ramdev effect:Panel to recover “black money” abroad

Ahead of Baba Ramdeo’s scheduled fast unto death starting from 4 June in New Delhi on black money issue, sensing the public mood demanding weeding out corruption and expose the corrupt, the Indian Government has set up a new Committee tasked to examine ways to strengthen laws to curb the generation of black money and its transfer to overseas, said an official statement issued by the Government, Sunday.

The spiritual leader would observe fast-unto-death in Delhi (from June 4), an event which is expected to be attended by millions of people from across the country.

Sensing enormous public response to Baba Ramdev’s fast-against-corruption, senior Government officials recently briefed the spiritual leader about the ‘legal constraints’ in bringing back black money stashed abroad, mainly in Swiss banks.

Set up by India’s Finance Ministry, the body would make an in-depth and fresh study for estimation of unaccounted income and wealth held within and outside India. This study will bring out the nature of activities that encourage money laundering, and its ramifications on national security. The study is expected to be completed within a period of 18 months, said the statement.

The unique study would be conducted by three leading institutes, namely National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

After detecting the quantum of money, the study would also suggest ways and means for bringing the same into the mainstream economy.

The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country.

The different estimates on quantum of black money range between USD 500 billion to USD 1,400 billion, though a recent study by Global Financial Integrity has estimated the illicit money outflow to be USD 462 billion, said the official statement.