![](https://thenewstimesbd.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/black-money.jpg)
The system of making black money white has become a bit of a debate in this very drab season in Bangladesh. Not only is the Covid and lockdown on but the heat is almost unbearable and good news is in short supply. Luckily, Bangladesh won the ODI series against Sri Lanka which brought some cheer but the miserable defeat in the third match has shown we are not capable of efficient and sustained good performance. As if we don’t know. However, the draw with Afghanistan brought us much pleasure as we had become so good at losing in soccer that it was as joyous as a blistering victory.
The budget has been truly damper as no one cares. One has no idea how tough it can be for the media to make up stories that are so full of boredom that that kills all interest. Nobody cares what the budget critics say either. The same lot says the same thing every year after every budget and they too no longer interest the public. However, among all this, some hope is offered by the “black money” issue which the Finance minister energetically defended and the public at least found something to talk about.
We do in principle support making black money white which is paying taxes not given before and the opportunity. We echo the thought that it helps the economy. We are not sure how much of the national money is black but it’s possible half of it is black while the rest are grey with a touch of white to the hoard. In a land where corruption is the system which makes the world go around this is only natural. It’s a black hued land actually.
What we are suggesting is that the “black money white’ principle be extended to other not so white activities. This could apply to all kinds of criminal activities as well. It’s possible that people are not coming forward to confess their crime and the police are unable to apprehend them because of such missing opportunities.
Now we can’t say that the majority of the crimes are solved and even where the criminals are caught, most case take decades to try if there are no politicians involved. So it costs money, resources and few are caught anyway and by the time the sentences are finalized, the guys are mostly gone or dead. It’s important to look at the economic potential of the trial system.
It could therefore be suggested that if a person who commits a theft pays a certain amount of tax, he will be given a very light or no sentence. Next time offenders will pay a heavier tax till committing simply won’t make sense and the money collected can be properly used.
A murder could mean a much higher rate of return and could be used to fund major projects. Since crime is so high in Bangladesh, the next Padma Bridge could also be built this way by rising fund from whitening black crimes scheme.
So many ways are there to go forward with the budget.