Campus buzz: Debate on noteban effects hots up again

Even as political parties and economists debate the pros and cons of demonetisation, students in the city are trying to form their own opinion through field research and first-hand accounts.

(By Mugdha Kinjawadekar)

The debate over the Central government’s November 2016 decision to ban currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations is far from over. Barely three weeks after the Reserve Bank of India released its first report, students in the city are now hotly debating the impact of the decision not just in colleges and academic spheres, but also in private conversations among peers.

KES Shroff College in Kandivali held a conference on the impact of demonetisation on several sectors on September 4. The college was inundated with applications, having received over a hundred from all over the country to participate in their conference. Samhitha Kain Sharma, the head of the department of economics at VES College in Chembur, said, “Over the course of the last ten months, the relevance of demonetisation kept resurfacing. Of course we discussed it during lectures, and students from both camps enthusiastically debated over it in class and outside.”

Her students, who won the second place for their paper on the implications of the noteban on the manufacturing sector, conducted a primary survey in Thakkar Bappa Colony in Kurla, which is home to a large section of unorganised footwear manufacturers. More than 95 per cent of their sample believed business went down by 60 per cent. This, the students believe, is also reflected in the fall of the growth rate in Q1 of 2017-18.

Even as political parties and economists debate the pros and cons of demonetisation, students in the city are trying to form their own opinion through field research and first-hand accounts. Sameeksha Samal, a BCom student at RA Podar College, said, “Explaining the phenomenon to my domestic help was more challenging than discussing the pros and cons with my peers. That is when I realised the gravity of the situation for one section of society, and decided to research it further through my paper.” She, however, believes such a drastic measure is the only way to rid the economy of its black money woes.

“Students formed their own opinions about the economics of demonetisation through their own primary research, without getting swayed by the politics of it,” said Sharma. Subin Mitra, chairperson of the Economics Circle at St Xavier’s College, believes the discussion is going to be relevant for a long time for students. It was even considered as a topic for the mock stock exchange event for their annual economics fest to be held next month.

“When the announcement was made last year, discussions were largely speculative, as one could only guess whether it would work or not. However, now that official reports about its impact have been released, students are reviving the discussion again, this time discussing the magnitude of its impact – positive and negative”.