Watch: Five things that Manmohan Singh said to explain why demonetisation doesn't work
The former PM said he agrees with the intentions but there has been monumental mismanagement.
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Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke (video above) in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, coming down heavily on the demonetisation drive, which he called, with uncharacteristic vehemence, “organised loot and legalised plunder”.
Here are five crucial things he said:
- I want to ask the PM whether he can name any country where people have deposited their money but are not able to withdraw it. This alone is enough to condemn what has been done.
- It is no good that every day the banking system comes with modification of the rules, the conditions under which people can withdraw money. That reflects very poorly on the Finance Minister’s office, the Prime Minister’s office and the Reserve Bank of India. I am very sorry that the RBI has been exposed to this sort of criticism, which I believe is fully justified.
- The GDP of the country can decline by about 2 percentage points as the result of what has been done. This is an underestimation, not an overestimation.
- The Prime Minister has said that we should wait for 50 days. Well, 50 days is a short period, but for those who are poor and deprived sections of the community, even 50 days can bring about disastrous effects.
- “Those who say demonetisation will do harm in the short run but be in the interest of the country in the long run, I am reminded of what John Keynes said, ‘In the long run we are all dead.’