Black money: Baba Ramdev's hunger strike threat has government acting hot and cold

The Manmohan Singh government is adopting a “carrot and stick” policy to deal with yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s threat to hold an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi, beginning June 4, demanding immediate visible action on black money creators and hoarders.

While Union home minister P Chidambaram directed the Delhi Police to refuse permission to Ramdev to hold any dharna at the Ramlila grounds, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has promised action on his demands. Mukherjee not only met him for more than an hour but also dispatched chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes Sudhir Chandra for further action. Ramdev was reported to be extremely upset with the Income-Tax department for digging up his old house in Narnaul in Haryana in search of black money.

Sudhir Chandra has apologised to the yoga guru.

The government has constituted a committee headed by Sudhir Chandra to examine ways for strengthening laws to curb generation of black money and prevent its transfer abroad, besides recovering such illegal assets. The committee will consult various stakeholders and submit its report within six months, a statement from the finance ministry said.