The black money detox

The Reserve Bank of India has now officially stated that most of the demonetised currency notes of Rs1,000 and Rs500 were returned by Indians to the banks, and have been exchanged for new currency notes (“The ghost of demonetisation haunts Modi”, Gulf News, September 3). The scheme was initiated by the government in November 2016, on the grounds that the amount of black money (unaccounted wealth) in the country would be exposed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that many people would be exposed by this scheme. Since they are saying a majority of the currency was returned, does this mean that there was no black money? Have the same been exchanged for new currency in other ways? This might have helped the government, but the people of the country went through immense hardship for almost four months. People had to stand in line early in the morning to exchange their notes. Farmers and small scale businessmen suffered the most.

Many people also got injured and lost their lives while waiting in lines.

Thus the demonetisation of currency in India was not necessary, and the policy was not clearly thought through. The woes of the citizens were not addressed. Governments should be more careful when implementing such practices because they have to think of every section of society.

From Mr Rajendra Aneja

India