In lieu of bringing the minesweepers out, the impossibly high alternative cost borne by the general public in terms of time and effort is too much to reimburse. The nation is stuck with the demonetization drive that aims at curbing corruption by way of demeaning the wealth possessed by people who avoid paying taxes and use various sources that make transactions happen in plain cash without any formal records.
The idea proposed here is to fight corruption but with seemingly improper preparation. One would suggest that maybe having the “new” liquid cash (new notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000) to make available to general public in place of the 500 and 1000 rupees notes had to be sufficient enough in order to deal with the inconvenience thus caused.
The newspapers, the TV Channels, daily magazines are flooded with the drive and debates are happening abound about whether or not this should have happened and why!
It’s common to see crowds flocking outside banks and ATMs right from as early as 6 am in the morning struggling to do away with old notes and acquire new ones.
Per markets, the trade has got affected a little bit as well and the rupee value has appreciated by a zilch. The bankers are working overtime over last couple of weeks to cater to the desperate demand thus created. Earlier, the limits imposed by the banks to regulate the amounts were Rs 4,000 for withdrawal/exchange of money and Rs. 2,50,000 for depositing money in bank accounts. However, understanding the urgency of a few cases, the limits have been raised marginally i.e. from Rs. 4,000 to 4,500 (for withdrawal/exchange) to meet the indispensable transactions. Further it was limited to 2,000 rupees from 18th November, 2016. Apart from demonetisation, at a few places raids have also been imposed to augment the drive.
Written by Namisha Kathpalia