Congress on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the nation for the “suffering” caused to the people by note-ban when he speaks on New Year’s eve and vowed to hold country-wide protests from January 6.
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Modi also said that in the next three months, as many as three crore farmers who have Kisan credit cards will be given RuPay debit cards.
Nonetheless, Modi did not provide any solid evidence of the success of the demonetisation exercise, such as the quantum of old notes returned to banks since November 08.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman later told reporters that India’s central bank is yet to release the final numbers related to demonetization. Female employees too have worked late into night. “He should have announced that these people will be arrested”, he said.
He praised bankers for their hard work, but also warned that “shameless efforts” by some to benefit would not be tolerated, referring to a string of cash seizures after Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were scrapped.
Indian nationals have until close of business on Friday to deposit discontinued banknotes at post offices and banks marking the end of a grace period for those still in possession of the notes.
Although the Modi government initially sold demonetisation as a surgical strike on black money, once it saw that most of the currency in circulation was set to come back, it shifted the narrative to a “cashless” or a “less cash” economy as justification for the move, which dealt a heavy blow on India’s informal economy. From the tone of this government’s past two budgets and the sops announced on Saturday, it is apparent that alongside the fight against corruption, Modi will also be attempting a rebalancing towards Bharat-and the Union budget is likely to reflect this.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the notes were no longer legal tender on 8 November, sparking panic.
3% interest waiver on loan up to Rs 2 lakh for construction of houses in rural India. 6000 rupees will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children. “This will help reduce the reduce deaths of mothers during childbirth”, he said. With the wider economy, the BSE SENSEX and NIFTY 50 stock indices crashed for the next two days.
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I might have done as much as any other reporter outside India to cover this issue and given that I report on matters economic I can see a little deeper into the story than many others. “It is historic that both the people and the government are on the same side in this battle against evil”, he said. He also called the demonetisation as “Suddhikaran” (Purification). “No reason anymore for our country to lag behind”. He concluded by asking the people to welcome the new year together for brighter future of the nation.
