By TN Ashok / New Delhi
The nation continued to grapple with currency shortage for the 10th day since high denomination notes were demonetized by the government Nov 08 even as ATMs dispensed more of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 notes supported by OMC run petrol pumps but banks reduced exchange of old notes to rs 2000 from Rs 4500 over the counter.
Adding a new dimension to the governments woes on the issue, the Supreme Court today rejected government plea to restrain high courts and subordinate ones from hearing pleas against the demonetization measure of the state saying “people are facing real problems and we cannot shut them from moving courts to register their grievances.”
The Apex court however asked the Centre to file a plea seeking transfer of cases on demonetization filed in different courts across country to one high court.
At the Supreme court, both attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal crossed swords accusing each other of politicizing the issue and implementing the measure without much preparedness respectively. The attorney general acused Kapil Sibal of politicising the court proceedings because of his affiliation to political party’s stand. Sibal, on his part, said that the government was clueless about handling the situation that was rocking the nation as millions were standing in queues for hours at stretch at banks to exchange old currency or draw their hard earned money from their accounts.
Even as Rohatgi argued that situation was coming under control with shorter queues and more cash dispensation , the supreme court asked why the government had restricted old currency exchange to rs 2000 from rs 4500, is even rs 100 currency notes short in circulation, the court asked.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley however defended the move outside saying the step became necessary as people with ill gotten wealth were using currency mules to launder their money through various accounts of other people.
In parliament , a united opposition continued their relentless attack on the government highlighting the common man’s woes paralyzing proceedings and virtually forcing the presiding officers of both lok sabha and rajya sabha to adjourn the houses until Monday Nov 21.
While Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected several opposition sponsored adjournment notices on the issue, the government said it was ready for a debate under a rule which does not entail voting and where no formal motion can be moved.
Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the issue be discussed through an adjournment motion and not under the rule being proposed by the government.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government was willing to discuss the issue and there was no need to press for an adjournment motion.
The lok sabha was adjourned for nearly one hour till noon. When the House assembled again for Zero Hour, the opposition pressed for moving an adjournment motion, but the Speaker rejected all notices. Both Kharge and TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay insisted that the debate be taken up through an adjournment motion.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister once again urged the opposition to take up the debate under Rule 193 which does not entail voting and a formal motion. As the din was unabated, the house was adjourned amid slogans by opposition saying “Pradhan Mantri Kahan Hain”?
Even as the nations largest bank SBI led others by stocking Rs 2000 and Rs 500 currency in ATM chests, the queues seemed to get only marginally lesser and Bankers claimed it may take another 10-15 days to get all ATMs re-calibrated to dispense high denomination notes of Rs 500/2000.
Even in the seats of power such as government buildings housing various ministries and parliament house where SBI manages ATMs, long queues were seen and cash dried out fast.
However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the rush at bank branches has come down significantly and that there is absolutely no reason to panic. With the government and RBI coping up with cash availability, small businesses – from vegetable vendors to dhabas and small kirana stores than run cash transactions continued to see their business dwindle.
People faced inconvenience purchasing milk, vegetables, medicines as they did not have adequate small currency notes. At various hospitals across the country, patients and their family members faced inconvenience in buying medicines, food and availing transportation.
Some populations of daily laborers were rendered jobless as construction and other activities ground to a halt as supplies of cement, sand and other commodities were disrupted. Truckers too were reportedly stranded on highways as drivers ran out of valid currency notes, affecting movement of goods in several parts of the country.
To make life less hard for the people, government yesterday allowed withdrawals up to Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings and up to Rs 50,000 for farmers but more than halved the limit of exchange of defunct notes to Rs 2,000.