ONE YEAR OF DEMONITISATION
AMN / NEW DELHI
The ruling BJP is observing anti-black money day today throughout the country on the first anniversary of demonetisation. Senior party leaders and Union ministers are highlighting benefits of demonetisation and steps taken by the government to curb black money in their press conferences across the country.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani flaged off Digital Rath in the capital this morning to create awareness among people about cashless transactions. Interacting with traders, Ms Irani said, digital transactions have increased sharply after demonetization.
Ms Irani said, small merchants are the backbone of the economy and a less-cash society will bring in more transparency. Speaking on the occasion, national secretary of the Confederations of All India Traders, Praveen Khandelwal said, digital rath will travel from Delhi to Lucknow, Kolkata, Puducherry, Mumbai and Bhopal till 31st of next month. He said, it will travel 20 thousand kilometres and reach 10 lakh people.
On the other hand, the Congress-led Opposition parties, including the Left and Trinamool Congress, are observing the day as Black day. They are holding protests in different places across the country.
Meanwhile, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said that powerful industries of Surat have been adversely affected due to demonetization. He was interacting with workers of power-loom, dying and processing industries in Surat today.
Demonetisation has wiped out 2 per cent of India’s gross domestic product, destroyed the informal labour sector and has wiped out many small and mediumbusinesses. It has ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has calculated that over 1.5m people lost their jobs in the first four months of 2017 due to demonetisation.
— Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Financial Times’