New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien took a blow at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his claim that demonetisation would boost digital transactions and wipe out phoney currency, citing statistics from the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report on fake currency notes.
Mr. O’Brien published a table graphic showing that the amount of bogus Rs 500 bills has increased in the last year. During the same time period, the number of counterfeit 2,000 notes increased by 54%.
“Namaskar Mr PM @narendramodi DEMONETIZATION ? Remember ? And how @MamataOfficial swiftly took you on? How you promised the nation Demo would WIPE OUT ALL COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY. Here’s the latest RBI report pointing out the huge increase in counterfeit notes,” the Rajya Sabha MP tweeted.
The information in the tweet was taken from the RBI’s most recent annual report.
“Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 16.4 per cent, 16.5 per cent, 11.7 per cent, 101.9 per cent and 54.6 per cent in the counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of ₹ 10, ₹ 20, ₹ 200, ₹ 500 (new design) and ₹ 2000, respectively. The counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of ₹ 50 and ₹ 100 declined by 28.7 per cent and 16.7 per cent, respectively,” the report stated.
The nation was horrified by the Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation move, which forced millions to line outside banks to withdraw their hard-earned money. People rushed from one bank to the other as a result of the abrupt news, which caused commotion, panic, and suffering.
Prime Minister Modi announced the move by citing the threat of phoney currency notes and how terrorists were using this route for transactions.
He had said that the note ban was aimed at reducing cash transactions to crack down on black money and corruption.
The Prime Minister had said demonetisation was an opportunity where every citizen can join a “mahayajna” against corruption, black money and fake notes.
Despite the promise to minimise cash transactions, the value and volume of notes in circulation have increased after November 8, 2016.
According to government data, the number of notes in circulation increased by 64% in value between November 8, 2016 and October 29, 2021.
Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister, was one among the most vocal opponents of the demonetisation action. Soon after the Prime Minister made the announcement, she labelled the decision “draconian” and demanded that it be reversed. She had stated the move was a “drama” to “divert his failure” because he had failed to return black money from overseas as promised during the election.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
