New Delhi: BJP leader L K Advani today expressed disappointment over the government’s inaction on the issue of black money and urged President Pranab Mukherjee to ensure that the government fulfils it promises made in a White Paper last year.
Advani regretted that government has not done any follow up despite its promises made in the White Paper brought out in May last to curb the generation of black money, its illicit transfer to tax havens abroad and secure its repatriation.
“My only regret is that the follow up of the White Paper has been disappointing,” Advani said on his blog today.
“I wish to urge Shri Pranab Mukherjee who is today in a far more exalted position than he was when he presented his White Paper to ensure that the promise made to the people in this document is fulfilled by Government both in letter and spirit,” Advani said.
He lamented that three institutions tasked to quantify the magnitude of black money have still not submitted their reports.
The BJP leader noted not only powerful nations like the US, Germany but even smaller ones like Nigeria, Peru and the Philippines have got back their illicitly lost wealth from tax havens.
“We in India, on the other hand, have seen some reports about names who are supposed to have accounts in Swiss Banks or such other tax havens, but have not heard of even a single paisa illegally stashed abroad having been repatriated to our country,” he said.
The BJP leader has been raising the issue of black money stashed in safe tax havens abroad and had also taken out a nation-wide Jan Chetna Yatra in the last quarter of 2011 focusing on inflation, corruption and black money.-PTI