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New Delhi : Union Law, Justice and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on January 12 said the government’s November 8 decision of demonetization had resulted in sharp decline in terror funding, hawala trade, supari killings and human trafficking particularly of young girls as sex slaves mainly from Nepal and the North East.
Indicating that the government would not hesitate to take steps to widen the tax base, he said that development was not possible without enlarging the tax kitty. “There is only about Rs Five lakh crore in the kitty of Finance minister Arun Jaitley for development and it needs to grow,’’ he said. Addressing a seminar, jointly organized by the Press Club of India, Indian Women Press Corps and the Supreme Court Lawyers’ Conference, he said that a new India, much stronger in its unity and integrity, was emerging, transcending the barriers of caste, creed and religion, according to a PIB release. Former Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachaliah, who presided over the seminar on `Fundamental Duties and Economic and Judicial Reforms’ stressed pon social evolution and education of young minds who can build a better India.
“Every government comes and goes. Our government is transformative government and tools of technology are actively aiding the good governance. There are 110 crore Aadhar cards and 104 crore mobile connections today. Digital governance means faster delivery and even poor and illiterate people in rural areas are showing a new confidence in embracing the digital technology which has given a new vision of hope,’’ the Law and IT Minister said. He also cited examples of Imran Khan, a mathematics teacher from a school in Alwar, Rajasthan whose mobile apps had benefitted 40 lakh children and a woman Satama Devi, a beedi worker from Telangana, who had learnt how to use Skype to talk to her grandson in Dubai. “People like these are change agents. They believe in this new fast emerging India,’’ he said.
Prasad, himself an activist during JP movement, said the present government has leaders who were all student activists from the days of emergency and reiterated that the commitment of the government for independence of judiciary is complete. Admitting that there were issues of infrastructure and judicial appointments, he said that 126 appointments in the higher judiciary were made in the past two years which was the highest since 1999. He said that 131 High Court judges had also been confirmed.“There is meaningful cooperation between the government and new Chief Justice of India Justice Khehar and all concerns of judiciary will be addressed,’’ he added.