The National Democratic Alliance government’s demonetisation drive completed six years on Tuesday, and the Congress party has yet again cornered the Centre calling it “the death anniversary of the Indian economy.”
Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in Delhi, party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh called demonetisation “independent India’s greatest organised loot”.
“I implore Modi ji to come on TV at 8 pm tonight. We want you to tell us what you’ve achieved through demonetisation and tell the nation if you consider this your epic failure,” Vallabh said.
Vallabh and other political leaders such as CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury also claimed that demonetisation led to the death of 100 people six years ago.
“Modi ji, so what have we achieved through demonetisation? Only a few things, the highest unemployment, finishing the MSME sector forever, and finishing the unorganised sector forever. You had promised that black money would come out, but actually, poverty crept into India,” Vallabh said.
The Congress spokesperson asked whether the ₹2,000 notes issued after demonetisation have been useful to Indian citizens.
“The number of ₹2,000 banknotes currently in circulation has declined to 21.4 million at a value of ₹4.28 lakh crore. But, where are these notes Modi ji? I have not seen these notes in the past three years,” he asked.
According to a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the ₹2,000 currency notes in circulation fell to 21.4 crore, which comprise 1.6 per cent of total notes in circulation, at the end of March 2022.
Noting that demonetisation had a lacklustre impact on the scale of corruption in India, Vallabh referred to the country’s ranking on the Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International, and said, “India’s corruption rank was 85 in 2021, down from 79 in 2016. This shows that even corruption in India is increasing.”
Citing a report issued by the RBI, Vallabh noted that as of November 4, 2016, the amount of cash with the public was ₹17.7 lakh crore. By October 21, that reportedly increased to ₹30.88 lakh crore.
“So, our corruption ranking is also deteriorating, the money in circulation increased, and the black money in Swiss banks has increased,” Vallabh said.
The Congress spokesperson also alleged that there had been an increase in terror funding, contrary to the claims of the Modi government that demonetisation would severely impact the cash flow to terrorist organisation.
He also cited a recent development where India informed the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) that there had been a significant increase in cross-border terror activities in Jammu & Kashmir since 2021-end.
India’s presentation before the CTC noted that there were 150 terror camps across J&K in 2021, down from 600 in 2018. From 2021 to September 2022, however, that number saw a sharp rise to 225.
The Congress today issued four demands for the Modi government, which included the release of a white paper that provided details on the achievements and losses after demonetisation, in addition to the demand that the Centre “accept and acknowledge” that demonetisation was “an epic failure”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too attacked the NDA government and said, “Demonetisation was promised to free the country of black money. But it destroyed businesses and ruined jobs… 6 years after the ‘masterstroke’ the cash available in public is 72% higher than that in 2016.
PM is yet to acknowledge this epic failure that led to the fall of economy.”