Demonetisation: ‘Unleash the black money demon'

An audacious move but there is a need to differentiate between despotic and democratic ways.

- Aditi Rastogi

We all get surprised with Modi’s bold move and it created a lot of chaos among millions of people what to do with their Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

During address to the nation, the Prime Minister said a few people are spreading corruption for their own benefit. “Corruption and black money are the diseases rooted in this country and are the obstacles to the success of the nation. It is something we have fought for immediately after assuming office.” He further adds, “Corruption, black money and terrorism can come in the way of a country's robust economic growth.”

“We hear stories of how auto rickshaw driver returns gold left by a passenger in his vehicle. These stories tell how honest common people are. It is only a few people who engage in corruption for selfish reasons,” PM Modi said.

But this is not the very first time that demonetisation is taken up as reform. There are other developed countries which have practiced this like decimalisation of British pounds in 1971 or the introduction of euro in 2002.

Demonetisation ‘Unleashes the black money demon’, it is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. According to White Paper on Black Money in India report, published in May 2012, Swiss National Bank estimates that the total amount of deposits in all Swiss banks, at the end of 2010, by citizens of India were CHF 1.95 billion (INR 92.95 billion, US$2.1 billion).