Lot has been discussed/debated about the decision taken by Prime Minister on 8th November regarding currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. People are facing inconvenience because of demonetization, some more than others. Whether the decision is good or bad, will be fruitful or not will be seen in the future. I hope and wish it adversely affects the cycle of Black Money generation in the economy. Majority of people I have spoken with have asked me one common question: Do you support this decision? Especially in recent days where almost everyday there is news of new currency notes amounting to Lakhs/Crores being seized from various parts of the country which indicates that the crooks have found ways to convert from old currency notes to new whereas common people are still standing in lines and there is currency shortage being experienced by majority of us.
To all of them, yes I still support the move. There is no denying that people have found ways to get their huge stash of old notes converted to new notes. It is found that in majority of cases bank officials are involved in this. The government cannot give any excuse for this. However what gives me hope is that they are being caught and hopefully will be punished for their actions.
There are my friends who are in support of the move but are angry due to the way it is implemented. Rules are being changed almost daily. It is indeed very difficult to follow and comply with them due to such frequent changes. Every morning it has become a ritual to check new updates and see if any of your plans are disrupted because of it. I think the Government should have some stability in their rules.
Given a choice that there would be no changes I would not opt for it. Indian mind is very creative. What majority of rule changes tried to achieve was to try and stop people from exploiting the loop-holes found by them. We need to understand that no where in the world has such an exercise been undertaken on this big scale. It could not have been possible to predict every challenge that would come. It is my personal belief that it is worth to bear the problems because of these changes rather than letting the crooked exploit the rules and get away with it.
This is one anecdote that a friend had told me:
A couple of years back there were local body polls held in the area where he was working. The maintenance person (they all called her maushi) had made Rs 22000/- the previous night of voting. Her job was to give people money to vote for a particular political party. She would be given Rs 1000/- and was to give Rs 500/- to each person who was supposed to vote. This is just to give perspective of the amount of Black money in the system where Maushi being the person at almost end of chain makes Rs 22000/- in one day.
This is one more conversation that I would to share between me and my friend:
G: I do not buy the argument that bear the pain now it will be better for your kids. What if I do not wish to have kids? You may get cash from your parents easily but finding a working ATM with cash is becoming a treasure hunt for us.
Me:
1) Look I understand that getting cash from ATM is difficult right now but you have a debit card try to use it wherever you can. My cash usage since demonetization has been Rs 340/- and majority of that was for Rickshaw fare and we have kind of same lifestyle, I am telling you on that basis it is possible.
2) Fair enough that you do not wish to have kids. Imagine this, you just received a big promotion at work . You are partying in any one of the cool clubs or cafes at South Bombay and suddenly you are gunned down for just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could be you or someone close to you. All this was financed using our own fake currency. We would all start complaining that why nothing was done.
This one reason is sufficient for me to support the drive. You cannot do the same things again and again and expect different results. I do not know whether this will yield results but I do know that not doing anything will yield no results. There are very few battles that are fought for something we believe in, majority of them are for monetary gains. By doing this, the prime minister has tried to strike at the heart of terror funding.
I do not wish to tell my kids tomorrow that system is going to be like this only, if you want it to be better immigrate to the West. Yes, it is causing us problems in short-term. All my clients are saying “Madam, Modiji ne dhandha thap kar diya” and these are people who have voted for him in 2014.
I would like to be part of the solution than part of problem. There are people who will try to create panic, a simple example of its consequences was salt being sold at Rs 400/kg some days back. These actions hurt poor the most. This is also where we should be concerned for their welfare along with our concern due to demonetization.
Trust the Prime Minister to take action against those who have misused their position or have tried to convert old notes to new notes unlawfully and let’s be responsible citizens. Try to be calm and educate people rather than saying its all going to go to hell. Create awareness about alternatives to cash. Instead of being cynical person, for a change let’s be a positive Indian.
