₹2,000 NOTES OFF CIRCULATION: MOVE LIKELY TO CRIPPLE BLACK MARKET
The Narendra Modi government had promised voters when it came to power in 2014 that it would leave no stone unturned to stop the menace of black money. Two years later, November 8, 2016, in a speech to the nation, Prime Minister Modi announced that his government was demonetising all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series. It also announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in exchange for the demonetised currency.
RBI to withdraw ₹2000 notes from circulation; will continue as legal tender till Sept 30, 2023Prime Minister Modi explained to the nation that this move would curtail the shadow economy, increase cashless transactions and reduce the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.
After the announcement, the nation saw prolonged cash shortages in the weeks that followed, which created significant disruption throughout the economy. There were unending queues outside banks and ATMs. There were reports of many people collapsing and dying while waiting in the queue to exchange cash.
RBI to withdraw ₹2000 notes from circulation; here's how netizens are reactingAccording to a 2018 report from the RBI, ₹15.3 lakh crore of the ₹15.41 lakh crore in demonetised bank notes, or approximately 99.3%, were deposited in banks, leading analysts to concur that the effort had failed to remove black money totally from the economy.
Points to ponder:
* The decision of Reserve Bank of India to take Rs 2,000 notes off circulation could only mean that the currency was being hoarded. While the currency was not much in circulation, only builders, underworld, politicians, film stars were handling it.
* The move does not amount to demonetization, the government has made it black money transactions difficult as the notes to be handled will now be 4 times more.
* The common man need not panic as those in possession of notes of this denomination mostly are high networth individuals, politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and film stars.
Demonetisation verdict: Supreme Court upholds the note ban with 4:1 majority(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)