Demonetisation Anniversary Updates: Don’t Resort To Further Unorthodox Measures, Warns Manmohan Singh
On the second anniversary of demonetisation, the opposition called for a nationwide protest.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Parliament Panel Meet On Note Ban Postponed
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has postponed its Nov. 12 meeting to assess the impact of demonetisation, Congress leader Veerappa Moily, who heads the panel, told Bloomberg News.
RBI Governor Urjit Patel was scheduled to appear before the panel on the ramifications of the Modi government’s decision to outlaw Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
Patel had shared details related to demonetisation with the panel in January and July last year.
The panel could not adopt a draft report on the note-ban in August as Bharatiya Janata Party members in the panel, led by Nishikant Dubey, stalled the process.
(With inputs from PTI)
Demonetisation A 'Shrewd Scheme' To Help PM's 'Suit-Booted Friends': Rahul Gandhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that demonetisation was a planned "brutal conspiracy" and a "shrewd scheme" to convert the black money of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "suit-booted friends".
On the second anniversary of demonetisation, he also said that there was nothing innocent about this "scam" and claimed that drawing any other meaning out of it was an insult to the intelligence of the nation.
(Source: PTI)
Nationwide Protests On Friday
Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma alleged that demonetisation was "a big money laundering project", at a press conference in Delhi.
Sharma slammed the government for the Nov. 8, 2016 move, alleging it was an "arbitrary and reckless decision which led to economic disaster, misery, pain, deaths of a large number of our citizens, loss of crores and crores of jobs, hurting the poor, hurting the farmers, hurting the daily wage earners, industrial labourers and housewives."
He said Prime Minister Modi gave four reasons for demonetisation - targeting black money, corruption, terror financing and counterfeit currency. All the four reasons given by the prime minister had proven to be false, he said, adding that 99.3 per cent of the money has been returned to the RBI.
The prime minister remains arrogant, he is in denial, he shall not apologise, the only thing which can happen, which will happen, is that the people will punish him.Anand Sharma, Spokesperson, Congress
Sharma announced that the Congress will hold a nationwide protest on Friday to mark the second anniversary of demonetisation.
(Source: PTI)
Demonetisation Dream Turned Into A Pipe Dream, Says Chidambaram
Rampant money laundering at bank counters turned Modi government's dream of gaining Rs 3-4 lakh crore from the demonetisation exercise into a pipe dream, tweeted Congress leader P Chidambaram.
Mamata Banerjee Says Demonetisation Was A 'Disaster'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said demonetisation was a "disaster" for the country on its second anniversary.
The Trinamool Congress leader said she had been describing it as a "dark day" since demonetisation was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
(Source: PTI)
Arvind Kejriwal Terms Note Ban 'Self-Inflicted' Wound
Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the rationale behind the government's note ban and termed it as "a self inflicted deep wound" on the Indian economy.
(Source: PTI)
Note Ban Helped Formalise The Economy, Expand Tax Base, Says Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said demonetisation resulted in formalisation of economy and increased tax base, prompting the government to earmark more resources for the poor and infrastructure development.
Jaitley, in a Facebook post, said that the move was a “key step” in a series of important decisions the government took in a bid to formalise the economy.
Jaitely said that while critics point out that nearly all of the demonetised currency was deposited with the banks, confiscation of currency was not an objective of the move.
Confiscation of currency was not an objective of demonetisation. Getting it into the formal economy and making the holders pay tax was the broader objective. The system required to be shaken in order to make India move from cash to digital transactions. This would obviously have an impact on higher tax revenue and a higher tax base.Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister
Demonetisation helped boost Income Tax collections, Jaitley added.
Don't Resort To Further Unorthodox Economic Measures, Warns Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the "scars and wounds" caused by demonetisation are getting more visible with time and the decision's second anniversary is a day to remember how "economic misadventures" can roil the nation.
The havoc demonetisation unleashed on the Indian economy is now evident to everyone, Singh said in a statement.
The senior Congress leader warned the Narendra Modi government against resorting to further unorthodox economic measures that can cause uncertainty in the economy and the financial markets.
Two Years Since Demonetisation
On the second anniversary of Narendra Modi government's shock decision to ban the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as legal tenders, the opposition stepped up its attacks on the ruling party, while government officials continued to defend the move.
Almost all of the demonetised currency notes have been counted and accounted for by the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank’s annual report for the year 2017-18 released in August showed.
According to the report, Rs 15.31 lakh crore worth currency notes have now been returned, since Nov. 8, 2016. This represents about 99.3 percent of the total currency notes which went out of circulation on a single day. When Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominated currency notes, the total value of these high-value currency notes in circulation was Rs 15.45 lakh crore.