Panel report on old notes caught in delays

New Delhi: Owing to the government’s inability to provide data on actual quantum of old currency received by the exchequer till December 30, 2016 — the last date for submitting demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination — the standing committee on finance will not be able to submit its final report on the subject of “Demonetisation and Transformation Towards Digital Economy” by August 11, the last day of the Monsoon Session.

According to sources privy to developments, the high-profile parliamentary panel, which has summoned Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel twice in the past, seeking his response on the quantum of notes deposited with the government by the aforementioned date, was keen to submit its report by August 11. However, owing to the lack of details regarding the data related to demonetised notes, the report may take some more time to get finalised.

Sources said that as of now there is no clarity on the report on scrapped currency notes, but it is amply clear that the standing committee, lead by Congress MP M. Veerappa Moily, will not be able to submit it by August 11.

The parliamentary panel has been quite critical of the government’s inability to provide the data, as whenever Mr Patel met the committee, he failed to come up with a convincing response behind the delay in counting of demonetisation notes.

In fact, in the last meeting of the committee, which was held a month back, an exasperated Congress MP Digvijay Singh was forced to wonder aloud as to whether the government will be able to provide the figures by the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

A section within the panel is also of the view that Mr Moily has not been assertive towards Mr Patel, as the general feeling is that the RBI governor has got away with non-committal replies to crucial queries on demonetisation. The panel has in the past few months, grilled officials from the finance ministry, home ministry and RBI on the subject of demonetisation and its impact on the economy.

However despite the lack of data, the parliamentary panel was keen to submit the report by August 11, yet now it seems that it may take some more time to do so.