New Delhi: RSS affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) said that the Centre’s move to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has resulted in hardship for farmers, who are struggling to sell their produce in the markets and get cash for the ongoing Rabi sowing.
“It is a 50-50 move. On the one hand, farmers are happy that the black money will be taken care off. But they are also facing problems as APMC are not working properly right now,” BKS general secretary Prabhakar Kelkar told this news paper.
He said that most of the traders in mandis where farmers are going to sell their produce are giving them old notes.
“In other instances, the traders are not buying the produce as they don’t have money. So farmers are facing some problems,” said Mr Kelkar.
He said that the other issue is that the rabi season has started and since co-operative banks are not doing banking farmers are facing cash crunch to buy seeds and other products.
However, Mr Kelkar said that he doesn’t believe cash crunch will hit rabi sowing and agriculture production.
“In India, farmers help each other, so there will not be much impact on rabi sowing,” he said. On whether government should have waited for rabi season before announcing demonetisation, Mr Kelkar said that it would not have mattered as India is dominantly a cash economy.
Ashwani Mahajan, who is the national co-convenor of another RSS affiliate — Swadeshi Jagran Manch — said that after the demonetisation move, the government needs to ensure that black money is not generated in the future.
“It is a good and a bold move. It will act as a deterrent to the creation of black money because no one stops government from doing demonetisation in the future. So in that way it will act as a deterrent,” said Mr Mahajan. He said that demonetisation will increase tax revenue, as transactions will be done through the banking system, and there are indications that the government may bring down taxes.
Virjesh Upadhyay, the general secretary of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), said that in the long term, demonetisation will be good for the economy and bring down unemployment. “As liquidity will improve things will become smooth,” said Mr Upadhyay.
