Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday chided the Modi government for its decision to demonetise high-value currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, saying the common man has been made to suffer because of the move. “Real culprits who have stashed black money are sitting tight while lives of farmers, small shopkeepers and housewives are thrown into utter chaos,” tweeted Mr Gandhi. He added, “The real culprits are sitting on their black money stashed away abroad or in bullion/real estate. Well done Mr Modi.” In another tweet, Mr Gandhi asked, “One Q for the PM: How is replacing 1,000 rs note with 2000 rs notes going to make black money hoarding a lot harder #Modilogic.”
Former finance minister P. Chidambaram said, “Such a scheme was brought in front of the previous governments also, but they did not find it economically feasible.”
The Congress on Wednesday put forward some questions in front of the government while appreciating the objective. “Will the cash-GDP ratio come down to the world average of 4% Will gold imports surge indicating refuge of black money hoarders in bullion And will the value of high-denomination currency currently around Rs 15 lakh crore come down ” asked the Congress.
The party also raised question over the government’s decision to launch Rs 2,000 note. “How will demonetising low-value denomination and introducing high-value denomination help ” Mr Chidambaram asked, adding that “99% per cent of the denomination holders are legitimate and they should not be subjected to harassment as it is their cash.” The party also asked the government that the replacement of currency notes should be done quickly and efficiently.
It added the estimated cost to introduce new notes would be around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore. “So the economic gains of the demonetisation should at least be equal to that amount.”
