PM Modi Lied. Demonetization Pains to Persist in India
People will have to keep standing in long queues in front of ATMs and banks even in 2017 and they will not be allowed to use their own money.
By Rakesh Raman
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi had demonetized currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 on November 8, saying that the step has been taken to check corruption and stop the flow of black money.
He had also said in his address to the nation that people will have to face certain hardships until December 30, as they will not be able to fully access their money in banks because of the shortage of new currency notes.
But as it appears today, Modi – as usual – lied to 1.3 billion people of India. The currency crisis will continue in the country.
According to a notification of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Friday (December 30, 2016), the restrictions on money withdrawal from ATMs and banks will continue.
The daily limit of withdrawal from ATMs will be Rs. 4,500 from January 01, 2017 and there is no change in weekly bank withdrawal limits which stand at Rs. 24,000.
But most banks are not able to give even this amount of cash to customers because the demand for cash is far greater than the supply. That means, people will have to keep standing in long queues in front of ATMs and banks even in 2017 and they will not be allowed to use their own money.
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Common people and opposition parties in India are up in arms against the government because the decision to stop the circulation of currency is causing severe hardships to commoners.
This war-like situation is causing deaths of innocent people who keep standing in queues even in harsh weather with the hope to get their old currency exchanged from banks.
While Modi is making false claims about the success of demonetization scheme in terms of checking corruption, etc., he himself is now facing serious corruption charges.
A top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Modi of corruption when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. Instead of responding to the specific corruption charges, Modi is making misleading statements about his demonetization scheme and accusing opposition parties that are questioning his cruel, authoritarian decisions.
But opposition parties are totally helpless, as their protests are not able to save the people of India from Modi’s excesses. India today is virtually standing on the brink of a civil unrest.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government award-winning journalist and social scientist. You also can visit the REAL VOTER – Politics in India Information Center that he manages.
