The decision to ban the two high-value currency notes was taken on November 8, 2016.
On the second anniversary of demonetisation Thursday, the Congress has decided to hold a nationwide protest demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people for “ruining and wrecking” the economy. Slamming the Modi-led BJP government for complete demolition of the Indian economy and attempting a “Tughlaqi” experiment, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, “The prime minister stood up two years ago on November 8 and addressed the nation, demonetising almost Rs 16.99 lakh crore in circulation.”
“The three reasons given for demonetisation were that it would curb black money, weed out fake notes and proscribe terror financing, but two years later none of those objectives have materialised,” Tiwari said. “In fact, there is more cash in circulation today than it was two years ago when Modi announced demonetisation,” he added. Congress leaders and workers would be out on the streets voicing their protest against the 2016 demonstration.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday declined to reveal the cost incurred on shredding banned currency notes worth Rs 15,31,073 crore which returned to banks following note ban. To a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the RBI said the process of destruction of banned notes got over in March 2018.
In 2016, about 115 people had reportedly died while standing in queues to withdraw money. (File photo)
Gaud said he also did not get a reply to his query as to how many Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were destroyed. The RBI had informed in August this year that as much as 99.3 per cent of the junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes returned to the banking system.
RTI said, Currency worth Rs 15,41,793 crore in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 was in circulation when demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016. In the time window offered for depositing the scrapped currency in banks, Rs 15,31,073 crore returned.
In its reply dated October 29 to the query by Chandrashekhar Gaud, an RTI activist from Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh, the RBI said invalidated notes worth Rs 10,720 crore did not return to the banking system. The information was provided by the RBI's Department of Currency Management, PTI quoted Gaud as saying. The banned currency was destroyed through machines of the currency verification and processing system, it said.
The RBI has declined to reveal the cost incurred on shredding banned currency notes worth Rs 15,31,073 crore which returned to banks following demonetisation, an RTI activist said, citing a response from the central bank.To a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the process of destruction of banned notes got over in March 2018.
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