The Indian” Juggad”

The Modi government cannot and should not lose time or remain complacent

Juggad is a word that has few parallels. Yet it is one that characterizes India and Indians: the latter, that is the people, more than the country.   

Used in the Indian context, its meanings vary from managing things by minimal resources to an easy remedy to a problem. But that is a charitable explanation of a word that is a one stop shop for an easy and often unethical route to a problem that has either hit hard or is staring you in the face. Simply put, it is doing things by hook or crook.  
And this is exactly what the Indian government is grappling with following its very controversial move to demonetize part of its currency that was legal and in circulation. The fact that a major chunk was used for illegal activities including financing terrorism is well known.  
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it may be recalled, had on November 8 put Indians on a two-hour deadline: he announced the death of the widely circulated Indian rupee 500 and 1000 through a television announcement. Announcing the withdrawal of this currency, Modi  had said: “Notes of 500 and 1,000 not valid from midnight November 8, 2016”. There was a scramble with the common man grabbling with the implications of the currency shocker and the dishonest running for cover. 
But Indians being Indians, it took them less time to adapt to the changed circumstances than it did for the Government to take a decision of this magnitude.  
The honest ones went home and counted their hard earned money, their real and immediate problem being about replacement of what had ceased to be legal tender. The filthy rich with stacks of unaccounted cash worked out devious ways to put it to use. 
The immediate refuge was jewellery stores and luxury outlets that made a killing. They sold gold at double the rate by accepting the near extinct currency. If reports are anything to go by, branded stores at malls and jewelers  worked through the night: the latter converting money to gold. Stores selling luxury goods also dispensed with credit notes with a buy later guarantee. In other words, park your cash with us and redeem the benefits at a later date. This is exactly what the filthy rich did. As against this the honest poor queued up at banks to get their old notes changed into new. This is when the jugaado, or jugaad practitioner, swung into action. Even he decided to make a killing and cash in on the moment. 
This is how it worked: the government had initially  announced that banks would exchange old notes upto 4500 Indian rupees per day per person at banks and post offices. No questions asked. 
 Touts swung into action, took unaccounted money, hired men and deployed them to queue up to change old notes for new. The going rate: give 4500 to exchange and get back 4000. For those who did not know how to account for stacks of notes found it a good deal. They went for it. To add to that, store owners and small businesses used their employees to queue up and exchange old for new. Sometimes this was for a price and other times done to save one’s job.
But once the government announced the use of indelible ink, the queues in banks shortened in less than 24 hours. The indelible ink was a measure  introduced to prevent same people from queuing up repeatedly and depriving genuine and needy people to have access to cash. 
Rich employers tempted their employees with a six-month advance salary in old notes. Many used jan dhan accounts  of the poor to stash their ill gotten wealth to redeem later. 
The modus operandi was to deposit 2.5 lakhs of rupees in each account given that the government had announced at the outset that cash deposits below Indian rupees 2.5 lakh would not questioned. This, thus, became an easy route to funnel stashed notes and get new ones when time was ripe. Some did it instantly; others waited for an opportune time. 
The government, on its part, warned  Jan Dhan Yojana account holders against allowing their accounts to be misused to launder scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. 
Interestingly, beauty parlours, spas  and similar other outlets offered membership on old notes. The deal: Deposit 35,000 rupees and get services upto 40,000 rupees: a double benefit: a rupees 5000 gain and utility value of old notes. 
 It is this jugaad that the government has to battle rather than real problems of currency shortage. Of course, the currency shortage and not enough reaching banks is a real and a monumental problem. Irrespective whether the government has the capacity to handle it, the jugaad mentality is adding to its woes. 
 Apart from minimizing the blow and ensuring that normalcy is restored in the shortest of time, the government is spending its energies keeping small time crooks at bay. Those adept at game of course know what and how to do and when and where. 
The big guns have their money parked in the right places and have an organized system to deal with a situation of this kind. It is the jugaados who are posing a challenge. 
 What is unfortunate is that the current situation has reiterated that Indians by and large opt for deviousness rather than a clean, honest route and are adept at finding ways and means to evade the law. In fact, violations come to them naturally as against following the law. It is, to put it simply, in their DNA. Therefore, the problem is compounded. 
 And it is this that the Modi government needs to fix. It cannot and should not loose time or remain complacent. Rather it should take advantage of the kudos it initially got following what his opponents are slamming as a “financial emergency”. 
 It is true that the common man has hailed the demonetization move. The poor are all for it because they see this as a move to slam the rich. For decades they have been battered and shortchanged either by the system or those who have twisted it to their advantage. This time around, Modi has taken on the haves and helped the have nots to settle a score. Therefore the hullabaloo about inconvenience is a small price, the poor say, they have to pay for a bigger gain. 
 However, it is no secret that demonetization has hit BJP’s core constituency of the traders and businessmen. They have been hit the hardest by the clean money move. Therefore, electorally, a chunk may part ways with the saffron party. 
 But this loss, if at all, will be amply compensated by the new constituency that Modi’s money move may have added. It is the aspirational Indian, the professionals, the honest and the young who are backing Modi. They are willing to go through a rough ride for a larger good. 
 This is where the test lies. If Modi is able to ease the cash crunch and get normalcy back sooner than later, then it is a win win situation. But if the crisis remains and people continue to be cash deprived then it is  cause for alarm. 
The fact that people have died while waiting in queues outside banks is a wake up call to Modi and his men to set things in order sooner than later. If things are allowed to get out of hand, then the current “hail Modi” mood will turn into a “down with Modi” cacophony sooner than later.
The writer is a senior Indian 
journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: [email protected]

The Indian” Juggad”

The Modi government cannot and should not lose time or remain complacent

Juggad is a word that has few parallels. Yet it is one that characterizes India and Indians: the latter, that is the people, more than the country. Used in the Indian context, its meanings vary from managing things by minimal resources to an easy remedy to a problem. But that is a charitable explanation of a word that is a one stop shop for an easy and often unethical route to a problem that has either hit hard or is staring you in the face. Simply put, it is doing things by hook or crook. And this is exactly what the Indian government is grappling with following its very controversial move to demonetize part of its currency that was legal and in circulation. The fact that a major chunk was used for illegal activities including financing terrorism is well known. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it may be recalled, had on November 8 put Indians on a two-hour deadline: he announced the death of the widely circulated Indian rupee 500 and 1000 through a television announcement. Announcing the withdrawal of this currency, Modi had said: Notes of 500 and 1,000 not valid from midnight November 8, 2016. There was a scramble with the common man grabbling with the implications of the currency shocker and the dishonest running for cover. But Indians being Indians, it took them less time to adapt to the changed circumstances than it did for the Government to take a decision of this magnitude. The honest ones went home and counted their hard earned money, their real and immediate problem being about replacement of what had ceased to be legal tender. The filthy rich with stacks of unaccounted cash worked out devious ways to put it to use. The immediate refuge was jewellery stores and luxury outlets that made a killing. They sold gold at double the rate by accepting the near extinct currency. If reports are anything to go by, branded stores at malls and jewelers worked through the night: the latter converting money to gold. Stores selling luxury goods also dispensed with credit notes with a buy later guarantee. In other words, park your cash with us and redeem the benefits at a later date. This is exactly what the filthy rich did. As against this the honest poor queued up at banks to get their old notes changed into new. This is when the jugaado, or jugaad practitioner, swung into action. Even he decided to make a killing and cash in on the moment. This is how it worked: the government had initially announced that banks would exchange old notes upto 4500 Indian rupees per day per person at banks and post offices. No questions asked. Touts swung into action, took unaccounted money, hired men and deployed them to queue up to change old notes for new. The going rate: give 4500 to exchange and get back 4000. For those who did not know how to account for stacks of notes found it a good deal. They went for it. To add to that, store owners and small businesses used their employees to queue up and exchange old for new. Sometimes this was for a price and other times done to save ones job. But once the government announced the use of indelible ink, the queues in banks shortened in less than 24 hours. The indelible ink was a measure introduced to prevent same people from queuing up repeatedly and depriving genuine and needy people to have access to cash. Rich employers tempted their employees with a six-month advance salary in old notes. Many used jan dhan accounts of the poor to stash their ill gotten wealth to redeem later. The modus operandi was to deposit 2.5 lakhs of rupees in each account given that the government had announced at the outset that cash deposits below Indian rupees 2.5 lakh would not questioned. This, thus, became an easy route to funnel stashed notes and get new ones when time was ripe. Some did it instantly; others waited for an opportune time. The government, on its part, warned Jan Dhan Yojana account holders against allowing their accounts to be misused to launder scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Interestingly, beauty parlours, spas and similar other outlets offered membership on old notes. The deal: Deposit 35,000 rupees and get services upto 40,000 rupees: a double benefit: a rupees 5000 gain and utility value of old notes. It is this jugaad that the government has to battle rather than real problems of currency shortage. Of course, the currency shortage and not enough reaching banks is a real and a monumental problem. Irrespective whether the government has the capacity to handle it, the jugaad mentality is adding to its woes. Apart from minimizing the blow and ensuring that normalcy is restored in the shortest of time, the government is spending its energies keeping small time crooks at bay. Those adept at game of course know what and how to do and when and where. The big guns have their money parked in the right places and have an organized system to deal with a situation of this kind. It is the jugaados who are posing a challenge. What is unfortunate is that the current situation has reiterated that Indians by and large opt for deviousness rather than a clean, honest route and are adept at finding ways and means to evade the law. In fact, violations come to them naturally as against following the law. It is, to put it simply, in their DNA. Therefore, the problem is compounded. And it is this that the Modi government needs to fix. It cannot and should not loose time or remain complacent. Rather it should take advantage of the kudos it initially got following what his opponents are slamming as a financial emergency. It is true that the common man has hailed the demonetization move. The poor are all for it because they see this as a move to slam the rich. For decades they have been battered and shortchanged either by the system or those who have twisted it to their advantage. This time around, Modi has taken on the haves and helped the have nots to settle a score. Therefore the hullabaloo about inconvenience is a small price, the poor say, they have to pay for a bigger gain. However, it is no secret that demonetization has hit BJPs core constituency of the traders and businessmen. They have been hit the hardest by the clean money move. Therefore, electorally, a chunk may part ways with the saffron party. But this loss, if at all, will be amply compensated by the new constituency that Modis money move may have added. It is the aspirational Indian, the professionals, the honest and the young who are backing Modi. They are willing to go through a rough ride for a larger good. This is where the test lies. If Modi is able to ease the cash crunch and get normalcy back sooner than later, then it is a win win situation. But if the crisis remains and people continue to be cash deprived then it is cause for alarm. The fact that people have died while waiting in queues outside banks is a wake up call to Modi and his men to set things in order sooner than later. If things are allowed to get out of hand, then the current hail Modi mood will turn into a down with Modi cacophony sooner than later. The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: [email protected]