Modi cushions note ban, doles out sops
Farmers, rural housing get top priority
With the crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab approaching and a few days left for the announcement of the poll schedule and model code of conduct to kick in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the New Year’s eve announced a slew of measures for the poor, farmers, the middle class, small businesses, senior citizens and women.
The measures seem to be an attempt to offer relief to economically backward sections hit hard by his sudden move to demonetise high-value currency and push the country towards a lesscash economy.
Mr Modi’s announcement on November 8 to scrap 86 per cent of the cash in circulation to fight black money and fake currency led to a cash crunch, hitting India’s largely cashbased economy and clouding the growth forecasts.
Though Mr Modi promised to restore normalcy by December-end, queues stay outside lowon-cash banks, ATM kiosks.
The law will take its course. The government will help the honest and protect them and see their difficulties are eased. “Political parties must move away from their holier-thanthou attitude and come together to take some steps to ensure transparency.”
Kisan Credit Cards would be converted to RuPay Card within 3 months.
Centre to give credit guarantees to MSMEs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the New Year’s eve announced a slew of measures for the poor, farmers, middleclass people, small businesses, senior citizens and women.
In his televised address to the nation on Saturday, the PM thanked people for their “support” to demonetisation and acknowledged the pain they had to go through.
He said efforts were on to ensure normal banking as soon as possible. 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 `1,000 and `500 notes were scrapped.
The Opposition immediately criticised his speech, saying his move to promote digital transactions was an afterthought to cover up ‘no real black money windfall’.
“India has gone through a shuddhi yagna (purification ritual) since Diwali People have shared their experiences and pain with me It will be an example for generations Kuchh to baat hai ki hasti hamari mitati nahi,” Mr Modi said a day after the government’s 50-day demonetisation drive ended.
The scramble for cash has also caused a string of deaths, prompting an Opposition campaign against the government, disrupting an almost entire Parliament session.
The PM said his war on corruption would only intensify. “You might either laugh or get angry to know that only 24 lakh people in the country admit that their income is more than `10 lakh. Every city you see has people with large bungalows and cars. Don’t you think the fight against black money and corruption deserves more power?”