President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that the demonetisation aimed at fighting corruption may lead to a brief economic slowdown.
Competitive populism
“Demonetisation, while immobilising black money and fighting corruption, may lead to temporary slowdown of the economy. We all will have to be extra careful to alleviate the sufferings of the poor, which might become unavoidable for the expected progress in the long term,” he said in his New Year address to Governors and Lt. Governors through video-conferencing.
The recent package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would provide some relief to the poor, he said.
Referring to the coming Assembly elections, Mr. Mukherjee spoke about the ill-effects of competitive populism and vote bank politics.
“As we have all experienced, elections are usually marked by competitive populism, electoral rhetoric and vote bank politics. Noisy debates can deepen the fault-lines in the society. You, as Governors and Lt. Governors, command respect and attention of the people of your State. Through your interaction and wise counsel, you can play an important role in easing the tensions in the society,” he said.
Traditional values
“Goodwill must prevail between different communities. At times, harmony may be put to test by vested interests. Communal tensions may rear their ugly heads. Rule of law must form the sole basis of dealing with any such challenging situations.”
Quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, he said India was a country held together by strong but invisible threads. Tolerance, he said, was a core civilisational value for India.
“In a pluralistic democracy like ours, tolerance, respect for contrary views and patience are a must. These values have to be preserved. India’s strength lies in her diversity.
“The multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special,” he said.
“There will always be divergent strands in public discourse. We may argue. We may disagree. But we cannot deny the prevalence of multiplicity of opinion.
“You can, through your calm influence, inculcate
