Faith & Crisis-a frontline piece

A recent article in Frontline extensively dealt with ground realities of Punjab’s regional sects or deras. There are many dera’s which have been in sync with Punjab’s history.

Reporter succinctly pointed out primary difference between mainstream Sikhism & sub-sects in form of “living god” concept.Deras have one leader & Sikhs have only one accepted guru i.e Granth Sahib

Tenth Guru conveyed that after him there’ll be no living guru. It was after 1870s, after the Singh Sabha movement gathered steam, Granth sahib is followed as sole Guru, whereas different Deras like Namdhari,Nirankari,Radhasaomi have a head called baba or guru, usually they have a huge following.

Reporter made a point that people go to deras mainly for the sense of community and belonging they provide; there is very little discrimination on bases of caste or creed. These deras are socially very active. They have large no of schools, hospitals & many more institutions which focus on community service.

Deras can be classified as orthodox or heterodox. Orthodox deras pose real threat to Sikh sentiments. There have been many incidents whereas one dera was found to be preaching granth sahib with it’s leafs unattached which was perceived as derogatory by Sikhs. Recent event of Dera Sacha Sauda’s Guru Ram Rahim donning in clothes of Guru Gobind Singh sent tremors amongst Sikhs which caused unrest in region.

These sects continue to flourish because they help people eradicate social evils like poverty, getting rid of bad habits like smoking, drinking etc whereas they don’t discriminate on bases of caste which is a rampant problem in region.

Deras should be extra cautious while respecting Sikh sentiments & yet continue to serving the society.

How RBI contols Money Supply?

People would be wondering what exactly is role of RBI.

RBI (Reserve Bank of India) is central bank of India which was setup with following objectives:
-To formulate, implement and monitor the monetary policy.
-To maintain price stability and ensuring adequate flow of credit to productive sectors.
For more information on RBI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Bank_of_India

Ques--What are main instruments to control money supply?

Ans--Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, Bank Rate & the Cash Reserve Ratio( CRR)

The Repo Rate: This is the rate at which RBI releases funds into system. It was 6 percent in 2004 but is now at 7.75 per cent

Reverse Repo Rate: This is the rate at which RBI sucks out excess liquidity from the system.

Bank Rate: This is the rate at which RBI lends money to banks. It is currently at 6 per cent.

CRR: This represents the percentage of deposits that every bank has to keep with the RBI. The RBI pays interest on CRR balances and the increases or decreases CRR when it wants to drain or ease liquidity in the economy. The CRR is now at 6.5 percent.

SLR: Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the percentage of deposits that banks have to deploy in government securities and works in the same way as CRR. It is now at 25 percent and has not been changed for a decade.