This is with reference to your cover story on the surprise demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes by the Modi government (Modi’s Trump Card, November 21). Banning all the existing high denomination currency makes immense political sense but zero economic sense. This hammer of a move appears to have hit hard the Opposition parties—the Congress, the BSP and even AAP—just before the crucial state elections in UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand, while the BJP may well have emerged unscathed for obvious reasons. The move is apparently also aimed at helping the party expand its support base beyond the super rich and petty businessmen and traders to all those who hate the idea of black money but know little of how it operates. Hence, it hopes to go beyond its secured vote-banks of Brahmins and Baniyas to the poor at large, for whom their employers (and exploiters) are the corrupt class. And as this class has been hit hard by the move, some of the poor are feeling empowered. But as just about one-tenth of India’s GDP is in cash, of which 86 per cent is in these high denomination notes, this will not purge the economy of black money, especially in real estate, gold, foreign currency and benami deals and bonds. On the contrary, the introduction of the new Rs 2,000 note is bound to aggravate corruption in due course. If the government really wants to curb the menace of corruption, it must address the elephant in the room by making it mandatory for all political parties to put the accounts of all the individuals and organisations giving them donations in the public domain.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
Seventy years of corruption took a dent in just seven days (Cause Over Convenience). Based on two days of deposits after the demonetisation, around $30 billion was deposited into our banks countrywide. Just to give you a perspective—the entire budget of the Indian Railways is $12 billion. Surely a huge amount of money is coming into the Indian banking system and turning white through this move. I would hope that this amount will increase by three times by December 31. This assumption makes it around $100 billion worth of rupee moving into white channels. It is well worth the trouble. But, perhaps the more voluminous variety of ‘intangible’ black money won’t be affected at all.
Jay, Dallas
Undoubtedly, demonetisation will contain black money and corruption, but won’t have a lasting impact unless India develops a robust financial system where transactions are done digitally and accounted for. In the developed world, currency notes hardly exceed the denomination of 100. While India wants to emulate their cashless economy model, it is perplexing to know it has come out with a Rs 2,000 note. Won’t such a denomination encourage hoarders to accumulate money all over again?
Sanjiv Gupta, Perth
Apropos the story For Ideas to Have Currency, demonetisation is a naive decision. A very small proportion of unaccounted wealth is held in the form of cash in the economy. The bulk of unaccounted money exists in the form of gold, real estate and foreign accounts. A substantial portion of these is cycled back into the stock and bond market through the Mauritius route. The people suffering in long queues owing to an ineffective banking system after demonetisation belong to the middle and poor classes. Unaccounted cash is held by two categories: the bribe giver, who is usually the businessman; and the bribe taker, who is either the politician and the bureaucrat. Most of them appear to have appropriate means for laundering cash, lending credence to the belief that they had some idea about the government's decision before its implementation.
Hilary Pais, Bangalore
Demonetisation can only be temporarily effective in curbing black money. Since the reasons for the generation of black money in the economy have not been addressed in full, the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes may well come in handy for hoarding black money once again. Still, it is a good measure to counter corruption.
Mahesh Kumar, New Delhi
The opposition parties have suddenly become aware of the inconvenience of the common man. They forget that the common man is used to bearing countless insults—stopping ambulances for a VIP, or VIP brats playing truant after wanton misdemeanours—because it’s supposed to be good for them. It is time to get rid of all the corrupt politicians who have amassed ill-gotten wealth over the decades.
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
While demonetisation is going to cause hardships in the short term to households, small enterprises and builders, it was a necessary step for reducing the black money in circulation (Clueless in Cash Country). The negative impact at present is more pronounced in rural areas, where there is limited access to banks. However, this move is likely to prompt people to open bank accounts now. This measure may not check the creation of new black money completely, but the common man will think twice before hoarding ill-gotten money from now on.
Maha, Bangalore
Demonetisation is a great move by PM Narendra Modi. I suggest the authorities issue the new denomination notes with a validity period, just like medicines come with an expiry date. That will help in discouraging people from hoarding cash. Gradually, high-denomination notes should be totally withdrawn, leaving only Rs 10, Rs 25, Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes in circulation and eradicating the menace of black money for good.
S. Sreenivas, Bangalore
It is a sound decision of the government, which was long overdue for ushering in a transparent and, hopefully, clean economy. The government should have demonetised Rs 1,000 notes sometime before demonetising Rs 500 notes. The plan should have been implemented with greater care without causing inconvenience to the common man, who has been forced to spend time in long queues to meet his daily needs. It is sad to see senior citizens, the disabled and mothers with young children spend inordinate amounts of time to get a small sum for their household expenses. On top of that, the introduction of Rs 2,000 notes will only encourage hoarding of black money in the future, and might undo the whole purpose of the exercise.
H.N. Ramakrishna, On E-mail
Though the sudden demonetisation has caused problems for the people, it was needed perhaps to rejuvenate the national economy, which has suffered immensely from the pumping in of fake notes by hostile countries and hoarding of black money. Demonetisation will put a stop to these, even if this step is temporary. It is unfortunate that opposition leaders are treating the government’s move as an election stunt rather than as a response to a national necessity.
Ranjit Sinha, Calcutta
The aftermath of demonetisation still hurts. There are long queues at banks as enough cash is not available in ATMs. This is due to poor administration and faulty planning ahead of the well-intended move. Then again, rules for withdrawals are changed daily; there is no consistency in the government’s stand. Perhaps only in India is an honest citizen made to beg for his own money from banks. And nowhere in the world are such absurd rules made. And as everyone knows, the tendency to hoard currency will only get a leg up with the introduction of the new Rs 2,000 note.
Mahesh Kumar, Delhi
In a quixotic pursuit to contain the parallel economy, demonetisation has exposed India’s inadequate banking infrastructure. Benefits apart, public inconvenience is a major concern, with several people falling dead practically all across the country after lining up for many hours. And in neglected rural India, the privation visited upon the poor man is immense and heart-rending. Modi and Jaitley must now make the whole system safe, easy and effective.
Sanjiv Gupta, Perth
The fight against black money has been part of a global call to stem the war on terror. It’s far more nuanced than dropping bombs. And those who haven’t declared their money are now sitting on trunks full of useless strips of paper. It’s a bold, laudable move by the government.
Jayatheertha S.A., Hyderabad
No cash in ATMs, no quarter in banks. We are surely heading for a cashless economy.
V.N.K. Murti Pattambi, Pattambi
Apropos For Ideas To Have Currency, the unexpected demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes has brought about sudden changes across the country. People’s attitude towards money has also undergone a drastic change. At the same time, the common man has become a victim of terrible despair and is facing great uncertainty. Since the banking system is yet to reach most parts of the country, many people had been keeping notes as savings. Today, these people are wondering whether, all of a sudden, their savings may be deemed as black money and legal action taken against them. The long queues outside banks have left people agitated.
Nobody was prepared for this crisis created by the government, which itself seemed to have no clue about what it was doing. Due to great demand, currency of small denominations is vanishing from the market. Markets are empty, as there are no buyers, and everyone is afraid to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. And the ‘cashless’, digital economy the government is gushing about works only for a minuscule urban, elite population. Even many bank account holders have had to return home empty-handed. Fishermen have stopped going to the sea and vegetables are rotting in the market. It’s tantamount to someone burning an entire house down to kill a few rats. Everyone is asking the same question—where is the black money? The answer is probably blowing in the wind.
M.K. Somanatha Panicker, Alappuzha
What has the world come to! This is in response to Outlook’s ground report from Los Angeles (The Sturm Und Drang Evening, Nov 21). It’s disgusting that after sending real estate tycoon Donald Trump to the White House with an impressive mandate, some sections now don’t want him to be their president. Why didn’t these protesters think of stopping his nomination to the presidential election in the first place? Even if he has fascist tendencies, now that he is elected, he should be allowed to move in to the Oval Office effortlessly.
K.P. Rajan, Mumbai
This is about the story on the police killing of alleged SIMI activists near Bhopal (The Dharma of Instant Karma, Nov 14). The ‘encounter killings’ may be despicable, but we have a short memory. We should remember the other side too—the dark days of the Khalistan movement in Punjab. After protracted trials in many such cases of terror killings, the witnesses turned hostile, the judges lived in fear and the result was many acquittals. Then came K.P.S. Gill, with his policy of a jaw for a tooth!
Rajiv Chopra, Jammu
The Bhopal escape is more make-believe than an actual event. Eight undertrials from different cells of the prison stage a coordinated escape, change into new clothes, kill a guard and are later killed by the police—without leaving a single eyewitness to what actually happened, even inside the jail. An incredible yarn! Did they all have weapons when they were apprehended, so as to pose a threat to the police? These and other questions remain unanswered.
J. Satya Raj, Hyderabad
The main story about the encounter killings, plus the comments by K.T.S. Tulsi (Kangaroo Court in MP, Nov 14) and Julio Ribeiro (Middle-Class Hindu Hang-Up) made for a comprehensive package on the vexed issue that needs serious introspection. The reaction of MoS Kiren Rijiju to the media raising some valid questions around the encounter killings, decrying the habit of “raising doubts and questioning the authorities and police” regarding matters of national security, is quite atrocious. No wonder police personnel charged and prosecuted for cold-blooded ‘encounters’ get speedy acquittals, as from the stage of filing FIRs to the final appearance in courts, all is managed by the police.
M.N. Bhartiya, Goa
Ironically, in a country that prides itself on its humanist values, the law enforcement agencies think nothing of eliminating people on the plea of maintaining law and order. Unfortunately, politics is the chief arbiter of everything in our country; the administration remains a mute spectator. And when it goes to the judicial process, judges are often threatened with dire consequences, if they cannot be bought.
Lt Col Ranjit Sinha (retd), Calcutta
Reading the account of our club of millionaire fugitives should make us hang our heads in shame (Her Majesty’s Knights in Sullied Armour). These men like Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya head straight for the British isles because there they can buy a lifetime’s peace by investing a few million pounds in the British economy. Mallya has made it clear that he cares two hoots for the law of the land. In fact, with arms dealer Sudhir Choudhrie, ex-navy commander Ravi Shankaran and others, he should establish a fugitives colony there. Actually, it won’t surprise me if Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists holed up in Pakistan are also provided sanctuary in Britain.
L.J. Singh, Amritsar
I am a bit surprised by the fact that Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi are considered to be offenders of the same magnitude. Mallya’s transgressions are of a very serious nature. But what exactly are Modi’s sins? All I know is that he committed a minor FEMA violation when shifting the IPL to South Africa. To me, he is a hero who introduced the great IPL tournament to our country.
Sudhir Apte, Satara
This refers to your story Her Majesty’s Knights in Sullied Armour (November 14). If one can buy residency in the UK by investing two million pounds, then Napoleon wasn’t wrong when he called England a nation of shopkeepers. Similarly, we may not be wrong if we expand the UK to reflect its obvious fondness for ‘Usable Knaves’, who never seem to face the immigration hassles that others have to bear with.
G.L. Karkal, Pune
This refers to The Last Lap of a Slow Ascension (November 21), your story on Rahul Gandhi. It’s high time the Congress ended its charade of asking Rahul to take over the reins of the party. The main opposition party of the country cannot afford to remain adrift at the top. Before the crucial assembly elections next year, the Congress must acquire clarity on who leads it, so that he can take credit for a good showing or be blamed for a poor performance. If Rahul is up to the task, he should take up the challenge. Else, he should step out of the way and pave the way for another leader.
Padmini Raghavendra, Secunderabad
