Day before yesterday I had someplace important to be at. But I couldn’t make it because no cab driver was accepting 500 rupee notes!
Yes, we’re talking about the country-wide demonetization policy which was rolled out on 8th of November by the Government of India as a major step to curb the menace of ‘Black money’. Starting from the midnight of 8th of November, all 500 and 1000 rupee notes ceased to be accepted as a form of legal tender in India.
Though a brilliant move, a lot of ‘side-effects’ also came along. Although overall the step is being appreciated but it added to the hardships of the common man which created exasperation and resentment among the masses for the government. According to the annual report of RBI of 31st March, 2016, nearly 86% of the current currency in flow in the country consists of 500 and 1000 rupees notes. And all of a sudden, these notes are no longer legal! Imagine the effect it will have on the daily lives of people of a country with a population of more than a billion. The long queues outside ATM’s and in banks to exchange notes has disturbed the current system to a great extent. The RBI laid down a detailed procedure for the exchange of demonetized bank notes with the new ones. The notes can be exchanged over bank counters by filling up a requisition form along with a valid ID proof. “Now why should I fill up a form to get access to my own money?”- That’s the thought process of the ‘common man’. In spite of our Government stepping up for something good, you can still see people rallying across streets shouting ‘MODI HAYE HAYE!’ and then the same people are the ones who constantly keep nagging about the fact that India is a country full of corruption.
“Iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta”- they say.
But what were we expecting? That the fight against corruption would be a cake walk? That Modi ji has a magical wand in his arsenal, ready to cast a spell and POOF! Overnight the black money is gone! Yes we might be facing problems as a result of this policy. But what we, as Indians need to do is see past these trivial hardships to get a look at the vision our leader holds for the country, a vision for India’s bright future. Understand the reasons, the circumstances which led the government to take this step.
The supply of notes of all denominations had increased by 40% between 2011 and 2016 and that of the 500 and 1000 rupees notes increased by 76% and 109% respectively owing to forgery. The large scale counterfeiting of bank notes was leading to the forged money getting funded for terrorist activities and let’s not even discuss the huge chunks of ‘2 number ka paisa’.
International Monetary Fund(IMF) issued a statement supporting Modi’s efforts to fight corruption by the demonetization policy.
Chinese state media Global Times praised the move and termed it as “Fierce fight against black money and corruption.”
Swedish minister of enterprise Mikael Damberg supported the move by calling it a bold decision.
Then why can’t we appreciate what’s being done? If a few weeks of hardship can change the country for good then we must be patient and sit tight because all great things come at a sacrifice.
Image courtesy: https://d1hl0z0ja1o93t.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/10154811/FotorCreated8-e1478773228941.jpg
https://sankarshanthakur.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/narendra_modi_hand_paintitng_photo_303904507.jpg
