The BJP seems to be on the back foot, even as it readies to celebrate the first anniversary of demonetisation on Wednesday, as the Opposition stepped up its attack on the move that disrupted the economy.
Around 18 opposition parties, including the Congress and Left, will observe 8 November as 'black day' against the note ban which they termed as the government's "most ill-conceived decision.
Meanwhile, the BJP plans to celebrate the day as Anti-Black Money Day.
Announcing the decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said this would be a “priority programme” for the BJP. Senior party leaders as well as Union ministers will participate in it.
A file image of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. PTI
The Opposition has termed demonetisation as the “most ill-conceived and hasty decision” by the NDA government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on 8 November 2016 announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with a stated objective to curb black money, corruption and terror financing. However, the Opposition parties and many economists have questioned the ability of the move.
What is helping the Opposition is the fact that more than 99 percent of the banned notes came back into the banking system. Many economists have said that this means the banning of notes has not achieved the intended results.
Meanwhile, the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bills returned to banks are still being "processed in all earnest" through a sophisticated currency verification system, the RBI has said.
In reply to an RTI query, the central bank said it has processed about 1,134 crore pieces of Rs 500 notes and 524.90 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 junked notes, having face value of Rs 5.67 lakh crore and Rs 5.24 lakh crore respectively, as on 30 September.
The combined value of the processed notes is Rs 10.91 lakh crore approximately, according to the reply.
"Specified Bank Notes are being processed in all earnest in double shift on all available machines (sophisticated counting machines)," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in reply to the RTI query filed by a PTI correspondent.
With inputs from agencies
Published Date: Nov 08, 2017 04:20 pm | Updated Date: Nov 08, 2017 05:17 pm
Highlights
Watch: Experts discuss one year of demonetisation - An economic blunder or bold reform?
Better implementation could have minimised people's suffering
The Government could have minimised the suffering with better planning. At the Initial stage, BSF/CRPF/Police vehicles could have been used to transfer funds to far flung location instead of depending only on bank approved security vehicles. Also, RBI should have alerted government about incompatibility of ATMs with new notes and time taken for re-calibration. - By R Vaidyanathan
Read full article here
In a first, govt 'celebrating' death, suffering: Left
The Left lashed out at the Narendra Modi government, saying that for the first time in India's history, a government was "celebrating" death and suffering.
Six Left parties, which took to the streets to protest against the Centre's demonetisation policy, said the government had set two records – making people lose their lives in queues and helping hoarders change black money into white.
"The Modi Government has created two records in the world. One, it made people stand in queues and many people lost their lives; Second, though Modi tried to tell the people and the world that by demonetisation he would stop black money, in reality he has helped hoarders change black money into white," CPIM leader Brinda Karat said. - PTI
Demonetisation risked national security and stability
There has been a lot of commentary leading up to the first anniversary of demonetisation. Most of it has focused on the economic impact or the lack of it. But a significant sidelight of what happened last year seems to have been forgotten in these reviews of the good, bad, and ugly aspects of demonetisation.
This sidelight is the fact that the prime minister met with the three service chiefs on the evening of 8 November, just before he announced that high-denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would become invalid at midnight.
Read the entire article here
Karnataka Congress members observe black day, protest against demonetisation
Congress leaders from Karnataka gathered at Freedom Park, holding placards and shouting slogans against Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley for the note ban move.
"What good did the note ban do, except for bring the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) down," questioned Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara at the gathering.
Banned notes worth billions stuck with NRIs, money exchanges, claims businessman
Well-known businessman and Dubai-based NRI spokesperson Ram Buxani says one of the unsolved mysteries with regard to the collection of currency notes that have been banned is the casual indifference towards the huge sums of money lying with official money exchanges all across the globe.
According to him, NRIs and money exchanges possess billions of banned note. Many thousands of hardworking blue collars never even bothered to meet the 30 June 2017 deadline seeing as how it would be more expensive to travel home and then spend time in an alien city and look for accommodation and food while waiting for their turn.
What is worse is that legitimate money exchange branches holding billions in banned denominations legally and through no fault of their own are still sitting on these obsolete funds and have no way of getting rid of them.
Buxani said several petitions have been forwarded to the government agencies in New Delhi but they do not even reply. Every such rupee is white money. This is not hoarded black money, it is a legal service and if any money should be exchanged (literally) it should be such Indian currency abroad.
Read the entire article here
Demonetisation was 'hasty and immature decision': Mayawati
Mayawati lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "hasty and immature" decision had hurt millions of poor in the country "very dearly".
In a statement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November last year had put the common man in huge discomfort and added that people were still reeling from the aftermath of demonetisation.
Demonetisation increased financial savings of individuals: Personal finance expert
"The impact on savings has been positive. Money which was lying idle all over the place, for instance in lockers or home, was moved into the formal system. With interest rates going down, people started looking for alternative investment options and moved from real investment like gold to financial investments like MFs and equity. This increased financial savings in general," Parag Paranjpe, certified financial planner and founder director of Think Consultants, told Firstpost's Bindisha Sarang.
A year of Demonetisation: Ritika Khera speaks to Firstpost Hindi
Social scientist and noted economist Ritika Khera spoke to Firstpost Hindi and said that the demonetisation drive, as far as numbers are concerned, has failed.
Parrikar says demonetisation has struck a low blow to anti-India forces
Former union minister and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar on Twitter said demonetisation has struck a blow to anti-India forces and had empowered the poor.
“Through increase in financial inclusion & formalisation of our economy, #Demonetisation empowered the poorest of poor,” Parrikar wrote on Twitter.
Coming soon, a book in memory of those who lost their lives in queues
'Note-Bandi: Demonetisation and India's Elusive Chase for Black Money' is an upcoming book from Oxford University Press dedicated to the "memory of Indian citizens who lost their lives due to demonetisation", IANS reported.
Excerpts from the preface by R Ramakumar.
'Demonetisation'— the withdrawal of legal tender status of notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 -- announced by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a televised address on 8 November 2016 will go down in history as one of the most reactionary and illogical economic policies ever attempted in independent India.
It crippled an economy that ran on cash and was plagued by a slowdown; it destroyed the livelihoods of millions of farmers, workers, traders, women and the elderly; and it violated the dignity and liberty of law-abiding citizens.
Yet, in a post-truth world, demonetisation also left public opinion in India deeply polarised. The language of the state had a deceptive appeal. In a society marked by abject poverty and inequality, and where everyday lives of citizens are marred by myriad forms of corruption, it came as no surprise that Modi's misadventure was received as a decisive measure.
Narendra Modi govt needs to introspect where it went wrong
What we have is a situation that an everyman's psychologist would describe as the government being in a state of eloquent denial being converted into brazen politics. There is, however, room to believe that the commoner on the street has even to this day bought into Modi's call for a goldmine beyond the short-term sufferings. Remember that BJP swept comfortably to power in the nation's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.
It would be better to look beyond the cop-and-robber chase and political bluster to see where the government actually might have gone wrong. At the heart of it all is a sort of cultural illiteracy that the BJP-led NDA has shown in dealing with the details of a mammoth, risky drive . That can apply to the goods and services tax (GST) as well, but that is another story.
RBI emerges as one of the most opaque govt institutions
In the last one year, the Reserve Bank of India has emerged as one the most opaque institutions in the country. The central bank, whose primary duty is to safeguard the interests of the common man, has stonewalled many an RTI query regarding the note ban.
It has to be remembered that the country’s central bank remained silent in the initial days of the ban when the citizens had a harrowing time with cash crunch at banks and ATMs coupled with long queues that also resulted in a few deaths. Not only did the bank stop giving regular updates early on, it tweaked the rules regarding cash withdrawal and deposit every now and then, compounding the problems of the people.
To an RTI query on why the decision was taken, it refused to give a reply Section 8(1)(a) of the Right to Information Act. This section allows a government institution to withhold “Information, [the] disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.”
This prompted Shailesh Gandhi, former information commissioner of the country, to file a complaint against the RBI with the Central Information Commissioner.
"This is sheer arrogance on the part of the RBI," Gandhi told Firstpost in an interview. The central bank has refused to give many important details to the public citing some or other reason - something a democratic institution should never do.
BJP leaders make #AntiBlackMoneyDay trend
BJP leaders slam Rahul Gandhi over latter's criticism of Modi and Demonetisation
BJP leaders and Union ministers, including Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Law and Justice and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, slammed the Congress vice-president for attacking the BJP government over the move to demonetise.
Rahul, earlier today, tweeted out saying demonetisation was a tragedy. Later, in an oped piece in Financial Times, the Congress VP called the prime minister an 'elected autocrat', and said in a bid to emulate China, our youths are out of jobs. According to him, the reasons for the rise of "elected autocrats, such as Mr Modi" are two: the increased internet connectivity that is increasing transparency and destroying the institutions that were information silos and the dominance of China in the global job market.
Stone pelters have reduced because of demonetisation: Nirmala Sithraman
On one year anniversary of demonetisation, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, "Biggest achievement is that terrorism has been badly hit and the stone pelters which were in thousands have reduced because their cash flow has been cut."
Did demonetisation move just widen the rich-poor divide in India?
One of the biggest problem that India is facing is the increasing inequality. And it is likely that the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 last year just heightened the problem.
This is what former prime minister Manmohan Singh told Bloomberg Quint in an interview: "I also worry about the longer term impact of demonetisation. Headline GDP may well start to show an improvement after the recent lows. But rising inequality has been a constant threat to our nature of economic development. Demonetisation may exacerbate such inequalities which can be harder to rectify in the future. In such a diverse country such as ours, inequality can prove to be a far greater social malaise than in other homogeneous nations."
Earlier, Singh's analyses about the impact of demonetisation has come true. He had earlier said that the GDP would fall 2 percent. The number for April-June shows that the fall in growth may, in fact, be much worse.
And in this case too, Singh's fears are likely to come true. The reason is that even after one year, there has not been any let up in the jobs scenario. As long as the informal sector continues to be in shatters, one cannot expect any improvement on this front.
This will indeed have a direct impact on the financial situation of the lower strata of the society.
Did Narendra Modi think that black money is a stash that can be raided?
Year on, the question that still haunts the common man is: why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi take the step?
There has not been a clear answer to the question on why the ban was imposed. There were certain objectives the prime minister explained in the speech on 8 November, 2016. However, the narrative kept changing. From curbing black money, corruption and terror funding, the objective later changed to digitisation of the economy.
So what exactly was the reason? The government seems to be as clueless as the common man.
Noted economist Jean Dreze has an explanation for this. "Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided," Dreze said in an email interaction with Firstpost.
Did Narendra Modi think that black money is a stash that can be raided?
Year on, the question that still haunts the common man is: why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi take the step?
There has not been a clear answer to the question on why the ban was imposed. There were certain objectives the prime minister explained in the speech on 8 November, 2016. However, the narrative kept changing. From curbing black money, corruption and terror funding, the objective later changed to digitisation of the economy.
So what exactly was the reason? The government seems to be as clueless as the common man.
Noted economist Jean Dreze has an explanation for this. "Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided," Dreze said in an email interaction with Firstpost.
Yechury says 'job losses, lives and livelihoods destroyed as the poorest of the poor were hit by Jumlanomics'
As note bandi finishes a year, Opposition leaders shared toons and messages on social media. Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted out several messages criticising the move which came a year ago and said, "If unreturned money from cooperative banks, Bhutan and Nepal taken in, more than 100% of demonetised currency would have returned. Black money converted to White courtesy demonetisation, and govt paying interest on laundered money."
China is not India, says Rahul Gandhi
On demonetisation anniversary, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wrote a searing oped in Financial Times. The article criticised note ban and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political and economic policies.
Here are a few excerpts from the article:
Mamata demands probe into 'big scam' demonetisation
In a Facebook post, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre over the demonetisation drive and said, "Demonetisation is a big scam. I repeat, demonetisation is a big scam. If thorough investigation is conducted, this will be proved. Demonetisation was not to combat black money. It was only to convert black money into white money for vested interests of political party in power."
'Idea that illicit earnings are stashed away in an accumulating hoard is a source of endless confusion'
Jean Dreze told Firstpost that he questioned the real objective behind demonetisation.
"Various hypotheses have been put forward. None of them really explain why the prime minister would want to take this sort of risk with the economy. Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided."
"In economics, black money essentially refers to illicit earnings. That is a flow, not a stock. Illicit earnings do not stay still and accumulate, like a hoard. They are used to buy Jaguars, shop in Dubai, fund lavish weddings and so on. In the process, black money gets laundered, so to speak. The wrong idea that illicit earnings are stashed away in an accumulating hoard is a source of endless confusion. At any particular point of time, of course, some black money is held in cash. But launching a one-off strike on that cash residual does very little to stem the flow of illicit earnings. It’s like a swipe of the mop under the running tap."
The objectives outlined by Modi in his speech of 8 November, 2016 have certainly not been met: Jean Dreze
Development economist Jean Dreze had famously warned that "demonetisation in a booming economy is like shooting at the tyres of a racing car". A year on, it seems his caution has come true. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the GDP growth slowed to a three-year low of 5.7 percent due to twin effect of goods services tax and note ban.
Firstpost did an email interview with Dreze. Here are the excerpts:
FP: It’s been a year since demonetisation. Do you see it as a success or as a failure?
Dreze: I think that it is best to be frank about demonetisation and admit that it was a goof-up. The objectives outlined by the prime minister in his speech of 8 November 2016 have certainly not been met. If there were other objectives, let him spell them out. Otherwise, let him accept that it was a blunder.
Shashi Tharoor tweets
Were the inconveniences worth it in the fight against black money?
In coming to terms with the fact that the announcement made 86.4 percent of Indian currency worthless, one of the queries posed to respondents was related to whether they felt the hardships they were suffering were worth it in the battle against black money. This was the second question to be put forward to respondents across 23 states and over 400 Lok Sabha constituencies over the process of six waves.
How much of a problem was the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes?
This is the first in a series of five big questions asked after the announcement of demonetisation on 8 November, 2016. C-Voter conducted opinion polls over the course of six waves in order to map out the trajectory of opinions over time. Here is the first set of findings of the C-Voter Tracking Poll on Demonetisation.
Piyush Goyal tweets says demonetisation has pushed India towards a transparent, formal economy
Demonetisation effect? Ravi Shankar Prasad says prostitution has nosedived, thanks to note ban
On the eve of the first anniversary of demonetisation, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today claimed that flesh trade and trafficking of women had reduced substantially in the country due to the move. He also claimed that the economic move brought down the number of stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir and put a check on Naxal activities.
"Flesh trade has nosedived in India. Trafficking of women and girls has gone down considerably," the law minister told reporters here while listing the "achievements of demonetisation", a day before the Congress-led opposition's proposed "Black Day" protest. "Due to the flesh trade, a huge amount of cash used to flow to Nepal and Bangladesh...Notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 (now junked) were used to make payments in the flesh trade, which has now come down," he said.
Narendra Modi tweets on demonetisation anniversary, says 125 crore Indians "fought and WON"
In a series of tweets, Modi on Wednesday "congratulated" the people of the country who "fought a decisive battle and WON." The prime minister sent out four tweets asking Twitterati, "What do you feel about the efforts to uproot corruption & black money."
'I bow to the people of India'
"I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money," tweets Modi.
Why demonetisation was a political move rather than an economic reform
A year on, as the economy still grapples with the negative impacts of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, one thing is becoming loud and clear: it was a political move not an economic reform.
As this Firstpost article notes, it did definitely give political dividends for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
"This was Modi's biggest political gamble ever since he came to power at the Centre in 2014. Modi sold demonetisation as the big war of poor on the undeserving rich in the society. Rallies after rallies, Modi called upon the middle class and the poor to suffer pain to achieve the larger objective of a cleaner, transparent society," he says.
It has to be remembered that there is no sufficient data made available in the public domain to do an economic analysis.
It is not even clear why the government took a decision to ban the high value notes. Was there any evidence of an increase in terror funding using fake currency? Was there a sudden surge in generation of black money?
As long as the authorities - the RBI and various government departments - continue to stonewall all the RTI applications, demonetization will continue to be the most politically-motivated economic decision.
Narendra Modi tweets video encapsulating benefits of demonetisation
Congress organises marathon to mark 'Black Day'
Youth Congress members outside RBI office
RECAP: Arun Jaitley addresses media
A timeline of Narendra Modi's grand Indian currency show
On 8 November 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the biggest-ever demonetisation exercise India has ever seen by abruptly withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from public use in a bid to clamp down on black money, fake currency menace, terror funding and corruption.
Modi said there are certain exemptions for the first 72 hours, including permission to use old currency in government hospitals, for buying fuel, medicines, train tickets, airline tickets, in government buses and for paying utility bills.
Exchange of notes were initially allowed up to Rs 4,000 while cash withdrawal at ATMs was capped at Rs 2,000 per card per day and withdrawal at banks were allowed with a limit of Rs 10,000 per day and Rs 20,000 per week. Since then, rules have changed many times.
Read the full story here
Congress says demonetisation anti-people, BJP says it has cleaned economy
Calling demonetisation "anti-people", the Congress and several Opposition parties will hold protests against note ban in several parts of the country.
Unfazed by the opposition criticism, the BJP has claimed deminetisation led to a cleaner economy.
BJP-Congress face-off over noteban
The BJP and the Congress-led opposition will face off over demonetisation when the ruling party observes 'anti-black money day' and the latter a 'black day' to mark the first anniversary of the announcement of the exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP leaders, including many Union ministers, will fan out across the country to highlight the "benefits" of demonetisation. on the first anniversary of the exercise.
This attitude of suspecting everyone to be a thief or anti national is damaging to the democratic discourse: Manmohan Singh in Ahmedabad
Demonetisation was short-term pain for long-term gain: Rajnath Singh
NIA seized old notes worth Rs 36 Crore from Kashmir as govt claims note ban throttled terrorism
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday claimed it had seized nearly Rs 36.5 crore in demonetised notes during its probe into the Kashmir terror funding case.
"We have seized demonetised currency of face value Rs 36,34,78,500 and arrested nine persons in this connection in the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case," the NIA said.
However, details of the seizure were not known immediately or whether the arrests included separatist leaders and Kashmiri businessmen who are in Tihar Jail on charges of terror funding.
Watch: One Year Of Demonetisation - A Look Back At The Timeline
Highest ever unearthing of black money has taken place in India after demonetisation: Prasad
UPA delayed implementation, while BJP worked for a more honest India: Prasad
Law Minsiter Ravi Shankar Prasad brief media on demonetisation
Manmohan Singh should compare India's global credibility under BJP and UPA regimes: Jaitley
Due process will be followed on Paradise Papers: Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the due process under the Income Tax act will be followed in the revelations made under Paradise Papers. He said appropriate action will be taken against the guilty after the due investigation.
Next generation will get honest system to live in: Arun Jaitley on demonetisation
Describing demonetisation as a watershed moment in the country's economic history, Jaitley said the move has met its objective of reducing cash in the economy, ending anonymity of cash, bringing in more individuals in the tax net and dealing a body blow to black money.
The benefits may not yet be visible to some people, he said, adding that the next generation will view the post- November, 2016 economic development with a great sense of pride as it has provided them a fair and honest system to live in.
Congress objective to serve one family: Arun Jaitley
The status quo in Indian economy needed to be shaken: Arun Jaitley
Indian Economy suffered from a policy paralysis under the UPA rule for the last ten years. It was the BJP that had shaken the status quo. Until last year, it was the norm that cash would be the predominant mode of transaction in our economy. This was changed after demonetisation.
DeMo a watershed moment: Arun Jaitley
Addressing a press conference, just a day before the first anniversary of demonetisation, Jaitley said that the announcement of the note ban was a watershed moment in India's economy. He said that it was important that the government remained undaunted of the criticism, because it was natural for people to be skeptical of new things.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addresses a press conference ahead of DeMo anniversary
14:32 (IST)
Watch: Experts discuss one year of demonetisation - An economic blunder or bold reform?
17:03 (IST)
Demonetised notes find way into temples
Scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes continue to find their way into donation boxes at some temples in Odisha. Unable to dump their old currency notes, devotees are dropping the demonetised notes in donation boxes at Jagannath Temple in Puri and Lingaraja Temple in Bhubaneswar.
The deadline for exchange of demonetised notes expired on December 30 last year. Now, the temple trustees are worried about how to encash the devalued denominations. - IANS
17:00 (IST)
Better implementation could have minimised people's suffering
The Government could have minimised the suffering with better planning. At the Initial stage, BSF/CRPF/Police vehicles could have been used to transfer funds to far flung location instead of depending only on bank approved security vehicles. Also, RBI should have alerted government about incompatibility of ATMs with new notes and time taken for re-calibration. - By R Vaidyanathan
Read full article here
16:52 (IST)
Jayant Sinha challenges Mamata Banerjee, says demonetisation is not a scam
16:42 (IST)
Tarun Gogoi says demonetisation disrupted India's credibility
16:16 (IST)
In a first, govt 'celebrating' death, suffering: Left
The Left lashed out at the Narendra Modi government, saying that for the first time in India's history, a government was "celebrating" death and suffering.
Six Left parties, which took to the streets to protest against the Centre's demonetisation policy, said the government had set two records – making people lose their lives in queues and helping hoarders change black money into white.
"The Modi Government has created two records in the world. One, it made people stand in queues and many people lost their lives; Second, though Modi tried to tell the people and the world that by demonetisation he would stop black money, in reality he has helped hoarders change black money into white," CPIM leader Brinda Karat said. - PTI
16:02 (IST)
Demonetisation risked national security and stability
There has been a lot of commentary leading up to the first anniversary of demonetisation. Most of it has focused on the economic impact or the lack of it. But a significant sidelight of what happened last year seems to have been forgotten in these reviews of the good, bad, and ugly aspects of demonetisation.
This sidelight is the fact that the prime minister met with the three service chiefs on the evening of 8 November, just before he announced that high-denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would become invalid at midnight.
Read the entire article here
15:54 (IST)
In Pictures: Congress protests in Bhopal against demonetisation
15:44 (IST)
AAP workers protest against demonetisation in Patna
Image sourced from PTI
15:35 (IST)
Karnataka Congress members observe black day, protest against demonetisation
Congress leaders from Karnataka gathered at Freedom Park, holding placards and shouting slogans against Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley for the note ban move.
"What good did the note ban do, except for bring the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) down," questioned Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara at the gathering.
15:31 (IST)
Banned notes worth billions stuck with NRIs, money exchanges, claims businessman
Well-known businessman and Dubai-based NRI spokesperson Ram Buxani says one of the unsolved mysteries with regard to the collection of currency notes that have been banned is the casual indifference towards the huge sums of money lying with official money exchanges all across the globe.
According to him, NRIs and money exchanges possess billions of banned note. Many thousands of hardworking blue collars never even bothered to meet the 30 June 2017 deadline seeing as how it would be more expensive to travel home and then spend time in an alien city and look for accommodation and food while waiting for their turn.
What is worse is that legitimate money exchange branches holding billions in banned denominations legally and through no fault of their own are still sitting on these obsolete funds and have no way of getting rid of them.
Buxani said several petitions have been forwarded to the government agencies in New Delhi but they do not even reply. Every such rupee is white money. This is not hoarded black money, it is a legal service and if any money should be exchanged (literally) it should be such Indian currency abroad.
Read the entire article here
15:21 (IST)
Demonetisation was 'hasty and immature decision': Mayawati
Mayawati lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "hasty and immature" decision had hurt millions of poor in the country "very dearly".
In a statement, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November last year had put the common man in huge discomfort and added that people were still reeling from the aftermath of demonetisation.
15:15 (IST)
Vijender Gupta says demonetisation strengthened India's base
15:12 (IST)
AAP joins protest against demonetisation
15:09 (IST)
Manmohan Singh slams demonetisation move, says it took away 21,000 jobs in Surat alone
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh blamed demonetisation for rampant job losses and also for over 100 lives lost during those days, News18 reported.
Singh also described the demonetisation exercise as a reckless step.
14:55 (IST)
In Pictures: Protest against demonetisation in Mumbai
14:54 (IST)
DMK says note ban only brought hardship for common man
Demonetisation only brought hardship for common man, DMK working president MK Stalin said while leading the Opposition charge against the NDA government's note ban move.
Clad in a black shirt, Stalin led a well-attended 'Karuppu Dinam' (Black Day) protest and raised slogans against the Narendra Modi government for note ban. PTI
14:51 (IST)
Demonetisation increased financial savings of individuals: Personal finance expert
"The impact on savings has been positive. Money which was lying idle all over the place, for instance in lockers or home, was moved into the formal system. With interest rates going down, people started looking for alternative investment options and moved from real investment like gold to financial investments like MFs and equity. This increased financial savings in general," Parag Paranjpe, certified financial planner and founder director of Think Consultants, told Firstpost's Bindisha Sarang.
13:58 (IST)
A year of Demonetisation: Ritika Khera speaks to Firstpost Hindi
Social scientist and noted economist Ritika Khera spoke to Firstpost Hindi and said that the demonetisation drive, as far as numbers are concerned, has failed.
13:36 (IST)
13:29 (IST)
Parrikar says demonetisation has struck a low blow to anti-India forces
Former union minister and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar on Twitter said demonetisation has struck a blow to anti-India forces and had empowered the poor.
“Through increase in financial inclusion & formalisation of our economy, #Demonetisation empowered the poorest of poor,” Parrikar wrote on Twitter.
13:20 (IST)
Coming soon, a book in memory of those who lost their lives in queues
'Note-Bandi: Demonetisation and India's Elusive Chase for Black Money' is an upcoming book from Oxford University Press dedicated to the "memory of Indian citizens who lost their lives due to demonetisation", IANS reported.
Excerpts from the preface by R Ramakumar.
'Demonetisation'— the withdrawal of legal tender status of notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 -- announced by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a televised address on 8 November 2016 will go down in history as one of the most reactionary and illogical economic policies ever attempted in independent India.
It crippled an economy that ran on cash and was plagued by a slowdown; it destroyed the livelihoods of millions of farmers, workers, traders, women and the elderly; and it violated the dignity and liberty of law-abiding citizens.
Yet, in a post-truth world, demonetisation also left public opinion in India deeply polarised. The language of the state had a deceptive appeal. In a society marked by abject poverty and inequality, and where everyday lives of citizens are marred by myriad forms of corruption, it came as no surprise that Modi's misadventure was received as a decisive measure.
13:18 (IST)
Narendra Modi govt needs to introspect where it went wrong
What we have is a situation that an everyman's psychologist would describe as the government being in a state of eloquent denial being converted into brazen politics. There is, however, room to believe that the commoner on the street has even to this day bought into Modi's call for a goldmine beyond the short-term sufferings. Remember that BJP swept comfortably to power in the nation's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.
It would be better to look beyond the cop-and-robber chase and political bluster to see where the government actually might have gone wrong. At the heart of it all is a sort of cultural illiteracy that the BJP-led NDA has shown in dealing with the details of a mammoth, risky drive . That can apply to the goods and services tax (GST) as well, but that is another story.
12:58 (IST)
RBI emerges as one of the most opaque govt institutions
In the last one year, the Reserve Bank of India has emerged as one the most opaque institutions in the country. The central bank, whose primary duty is to safeguard the interests of the common man, has stonewalled many an RTI query regarding the note ban.
It has to be remembered that the country’s central bank remained silent in the initial days of the ban when the citizens had a harrowing time with cash crunch at banks and ATMs coupled with long queues that also resulted in a few deaths. Not only did the bank stop giving regular updates early on, it tweaked the rules regarding cash withdrawal and deposit every now and then, compounding the problems of the people.
To an RTI query on why the decision was taken, it refused to give a reply Section 8(1)(a) of the Right to Information Act. This section allows a government institution to withhold “Information, [the] disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.”
This prompted Shailesh Gandhi, former information commissioner of the country, to file a complaint against the RBI with the Central Information Commissioner.
"This is sheer arrogance on the part of the RBI," Gandhi told Firstpost in an interview. The central bank has refused to give many important details to the public citing some or other reason - something a democratic institution should never do.
12:49 (IST)
BJP leaders make #AntiBlackMoneyDay trend
12:40 (IST)
BJP leaders slam Rahul Gandhi over latter's criticism of Modi and Demonetisation
BJP leaders and Union ministers, including Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Law and Justice and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, slammed the Congress vice-president for attacking the BJP government over the move to demonetise.
Rahul, earlier today, tweeted out saying demonetisation was a tragedy. Later, in an oped piece in Financial Times, the Congress VP called the prime minister an 'elected autocrat', and said in a bid to emulate China, our youths are out of jobs. According to him, the reasons for the rise of "elected autocrats, such as Mr Modi" are two: the increased internet connectivity that is increasing transparency and destroying the institutions that were information silos and the dominance of China in the global job market.
12:20 (IST)
Stone pelters have reduced because of demonetisation: Nirmala Sithraman
On one year anniversary of demonetisation, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, "Biggest achievement is that terrorism has been badly hit and the stone pelters which were in thousands have reduced because their cash flow has been cut."
12:18 (IST)
12:15 (IST)
Did demonetisation move just widen the rich-poor divide in India?
One of the biggest problem that India is facing is the increasing inequality. And it is likely that the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 last year just heightened the problem.
This is what former prime minister Manmohan Singh told Bloomberg Quint in an interview: "I also worry about the longer term impact of demonetisation. Headline GDP may well start to show an improvement after the recent lows. But rising inequality has been a constant threat to our nature of economic development. Demonetisation may exacerbate such inequalities which can be harder to rectify in the future. In such a diverse country such as ours, inequality can prove to be a far greater social malaise than in other homogeneous nations."
Earlier, Singh's analyses about the impact of demonetisation has come true. He had earlier said that the GDP would fall 2 percent. The number for April-June shows that the fall in growth may, in fact, be much worse.
And in this case too, Singh's fears are likely to come true. The reason is that even after one year, there has not been any let up in the jobs scenario. As long as the informal sector continues to be in shatters, one cannot expect any improvement on this front.
This will indeed have a direct impact on the financial situation of the lower strata of the society.
12:13 (IST)
Did Narendra Modi think that black money is a stash that can be raided?
Year on, the question that still haunts the common man is: why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi take the step?
There has not been a clear answer to the question on why the ban was imposed. There were certain objectives the prime minister explained in the speech on 8 November, 2016. However, the narrative kept changing. From curbing black money, corruption and terror funding, the objective later changed to digitisation of the economy.
So what exactly was the reason? The government seems to be as clueless as the common man.
Noted economist Jean Dreze has an explanation for this. "Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided," Dreze said in an email interaction with Firstpost.
11:50 (IST)
Did Narendra Modi think that black money is a stash that can be raided?
Year on, the question that still haunts the common man is: why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi take the step?
There has not been a clear answer to the question on why the ban was imposed. There were certain objectives the prime minister explained in the speech on 8 November, 2016. However, the narrative kept changing. From curbing black money, corruption and terror funding, the objective later changed to digitisation of the economy.
So what exactly was the reason? The government seems to be as clueless as the common man.
Noted economist Jean Dreze has an explanation for this. "Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided," Dreze said in an email interaction with Firstpost.
11:46 (IST)
Yechury says 'job losses, lives and livelihoods destroyed as the poorest of the poor were hit by Jumlanomics'
As note bandi finishes a year, Opposition leaders shared toons and messages on social media. Senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted out several messages criticising the move which came a year ago and said, "If unreturned money from cooperative banks, Bhutan and Nepal taken in, more than 100% of demonetised currency would have returned. Black money converted to White courtesy demonetisation, and govt paying interest on laundered money."
11:19 (IST)
China is not India, says Rahul Gandhi
On demonetisation anniversary, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wrote a searing oped in Financial Times. The article criticised note ban and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political and economic policies.
Here are a few excerpts from the article:
11:04 (IST)
Mamata demands probe into 'big scam' demonetisation
In a Facebook post, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre over the demonetisation drive and said, "Demonetisation is a big scam. I repeat, demonetisation is a big scam. If thorough investigation is conducted, this will be proved. Demonetisation was not to combat black money. It was only to convert black money into white money for vested interests of political party in power."
10:13 (IST)
'Idea that illicit earnings are stashed away in an accumulating hoard is a source of endless confusion'
Jean Dreze told Firstpost that he questioned the real objective behind demonetisation.
"Various hypotheses have been put forward. None of them really explain why the prime minister would want to take this sort of risk with the economy. Today, my hunch is that he meant what he said on 8 November last year. He really believed in the myth that black money is a gigantic hoard of cash, waiting to be raided."
"In economics, black money essentially refers to illicit earnings. That is a flow, not a stock. Illicit earnings do not stay still and accumulate, like a hoard. They are used to buy Jaguars, shop in Dubai, fund lavish weddings and so on. In the process, black money gets laundered, so to speak. The wrong idea that illicit earnings are stashed away in an accumulating hoard is a source of endless confusion. At any particular point of time, of course, some black money is held in cash. But launching a one-off strike on that cash residual does very little to stem the flow of illicit earnings. It’s like a swipe of the mop under the running tap."
10:07 (IST)
The objectives outlined by Modi in his speech of 8 November, 2016 have certainly not been met: Jean Dreze
Development economist Jean Dreze had famously warned that "demonetisation in a booming economy is like shooting at the tyres of a racing car". A year on, it seems his caution has come true. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the GDP growth slowed to a three-year low of 5.7 percent due to twin effect of goods services tax and note ban.
Firstpost did an email interview with Dreze. Here are the excerpts:
FP: It’s been a year since demonetisation. Do you see it as a success or as a failure?
Dreze: I think that it is best to be frank about demonetisation and admit that it was a goof-up. The objectives outlined by the prime minister in his speech of 8 November 2016 have certainly not been met. If there were other objectives, let him spell them out. Otherwise, let him accept that it was a blunder.
10:00 (IST)
09:52 (IST)
Shashi Tharoor tweets
09:49 (IST)
Were the inconveniences worth it in the fight against black money?
In coming to terms with the fact that the announcement made 86.4 percent of Indian currency worthless, one of the queries posed to respondents was related to whether they felt the hardships they were suffering were worth it in the battle against black money. This was the second question to be put forward to respondents across 23 states and over 400 Lok Sabha constituencies over the process of six waves.
09:47 (IST)
How much of a problem was the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes?
This is the first in a series of five big questions asked after the announcement of demonetisation on 8 November, 2016. C-Voter conducted opinion polls over the course of six waves in order to map out the trajectory of opinions over time. Here is the first set of findings of the C-Voter Tracking Poll on Demonetisation.
09:41 (IST)
09:33 (IST)
Piyush Goyal tweets says demonetisation has pushed India towards a transparent, formal economy
09:29 (IST)
Prithviraj Chavan demands parliamentary panel probe into ‘real intention’
Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday demanded a probe by a joint parliamentary committee to ascertain the "real intention" behind the Centre's demonetisation exercise.
"As time passed after demonetisation, a different scenario came up, contradicting the initial claims made by the prime minister on November 8 (last year), while announcing the exercise. This was an impulsive decision which hurt the country to no ends," Chavan told PTI.
He alleged that after it became clear that the initial claims put forward as reasons behind the decision to scrap high-value currency notes did not prove to be true, the goalpost was shifted.
"After the RBI said that all the money had come back into the system, Jaitleyji (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley) had said the intention behind demonetisation was digitisation. Now the question that arises is, was the prime minister aware of the real intention or was he kept in the dark," Chavan said.
"There should be a probe by a joint parliamentary committee to ascertain whether the prime minister knew that the real intention (behind demonetisation) was digitisation or was he also kept in the dark about the whole process and its repercussions," he added. — PTI
09:20 (IST)
Rahul Gandhi calls demonetisation a 'tragedy'
08:49 (IST)
Demonetisation effect? Ravi Shankar Prasad says prostitution has nosedived, thanks to note ban
On the eve of the first anniversary of demonetisation, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today claimed that flesh trade and trafficking of women had reduced substantially in the country due to the move. He also claimed that the economic move brought down the number of stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir and put a check on Naxal activities.
"Flesh trade has nosedived in India. Trafficking of women and girls has gone down considerably," the law minister told reporters here while listing the "achievements of demonetisation", a day before the Congress-led opposition's proposed "Black Day" protest. "Due to the flesh trade, a huge amount of cash used to flow to Nepal and Bangladesh...Notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 (now junked) were used to make payments in the flesh trade, which has now come down," he said.
08:45 (IST)
Narendra Modi tweets on demonetisation anniversary, says 125 crore Indians "fought and WON"
In a series of tweets, Modi on Wednesday "congratulated" the people of the country who "fought a decisive battle and WON." The prime minister sent out four tweets asking Twitterati, "What do you feel about the efforts to uproot corruption & black money."
08:34 (IST)
'I bow to the people of India'
"I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money," tweets Modi.
08:34 (IST)
Why demonetisation was a political move rather than an economic reform
A year on, as the economy still grapples with the negative impacts of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, one thing is becoming loud and clear: it was a political move not an economic reform.
As this Firstpost article notes, it did definitely give political dividends for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
"This was Modi's biggest political gamble ever since he came to power at the Centre in 2014. Modi sold demonetisation as the big war of poor on the undeserving rich in the society. Rallies after rallies, Modi called upon the middle class and the poor to suffer pain to achieve the larger objective of a cleaner, transparent society," he says.
It has to be remembered that there is no sufficient data made available in the public domain to do an economic analysis.
It is not even clear why the government took a decision to ban the high value notes. Was there any evidence of an increase in terror funding using fake currency? Was there a sudden surge in generation of black money?
As long as the authorities - the RBI and various government departments - continue to stonewall all the RTI applications, demonetization will continue to be the most politically-motivated economic decision.
08:23 (IST)
Narendra Modi tweets video encapsulating benefits of demonetisation
08:13 (IST)
Congress organises marathon to mark 'Black Day'