Together

Vasu Reddy From Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

“With Everyone” is part of the slogan for Modi's speeches and government, before and after the 2014 landslide election in India. Modi is quite good at promoting and also pushing his agenda. He simply emails, tweets, facebook or uses the social media for bringing attention to his election stump calls, and simply makes the statement through the social media that he has passed on the directive to the responsible bureaucrats to take actions necessary to help facilitate these actions. If someone who follows him regularly sees the actions that arise from each of his messages, it is clear that he does drive the massive and bloated administration to act on what he has said he will deliver.

A sample of his communications made public by the PM through social media “I have written to all banks to facilitate opening a bank account for every Indian” (the facebook post is similar to this and may not be exact lines) but makes the point that he is simply emailing the responsible parties to make sure that they take appropriate actions to see that every Indian has a bank account. It is a very appropriate and practical public initiative to make sure everyone has a bank account, and also the banks help people to establish an account. Even if every Indian saves a few bucks every month, it will amount to a great deal of wealth in quick time. The national savings are almost all in gold and silver as only the very rich have money in excess of their needs in a mostly middle and lower income democracy, where savings are rare and even if the families want to they stay away from the banking process. By having everyone open and maintain a bank account, it will start a process of savings for everyone, and a very few pennies every once in a while will make the country start planning for future in one more way, other than in just gold. Adding real cash savings to gold, silver and precious metals and land and real estate will help the country to better manage and plan for a better future. The old saying that even the poorest Indian has a few grams of gold, we can add on a savings account to all Indians and each of them can start saving a few bucks as often as they can and add real money to gold.

While the push to save more and more in the country has always been in the forefront of national building, the exercise to make the people, banks and the process move forward and gently pushing the authorities and using social media to promote the savings account for every Indian is another master stroke from the PM. Put gentle pressure on the banks and also the people, and push them to open accounts and save. What is also an apparent plan is to have the banks and financial institutions have the cash resources for them to continue to invest in the national building and national infrastructure with the nations own wealth, rather than borrowing and foreign investment. I am not even sure of if the economists and financial planning teams of the PM's office have thought through this beyond encouraging everyone to have bank accounts and everyone to save as much as they can, the future of the money managers and available resources for new development with indigenous resources. If they have thought through this and are actively encouraging people and the institutions to get on with the process of account opening and nation building; it is no less a master stroke than cleaning up the river Ganges

A nation which distrusts the institutions and politicians without hesitation due to their experience with the truth of watching them in action for more than three generations of independence from the British in 1947, it will be difficult to trust the new mantra for savings and national building. The first few months of the new government has been trying to work their poll promises into the government agenda, and with the plan to clean the Ganges, the banking for everyone is a positive and progressive step. The country needs self management and cleanliness in the forefront of any development, and these steps are a clear direction towards a India First theme, and for this government and all subsequent governments to come, the nation and its people should be first.