TIRUCHI: The Centre’ demonetisation move was wrong in conception, execution and delivery, former Member of Parliament of Indian National Congress S. Peter Alphonse claimed.
Having made the announcement on November 8, the Centre was changing the goal post every day on the demonetisation issue, Mr. Peter Alphonse said speaking at a debate on “Demonetisation Who Benefits Who Suffers” organised by the St. Joseph’s Institute of Management here on Sunday.
Questioning the Centre on what kind of preparatory works it had carried out with respect to currency dispensation and how money was to be transported to villages before announcing this decision, Mr. Alphonse said the demonetisation move was a recipe for disaster.
Making his party’s position clear that there was no second thought on eradication of black money, Mr. Peter Alphonse said the present move of the Centre had virtually left 80 crore people in a state of misery.
Quoting former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks on this issue, Mr. Peter Alphonse said the demonetisation move would kill the very basis of our economy. Several developed countries such as Germany, Canada and Japan were cash economies, he said adding that there was a difference between less cash and cashless economy.
The Prime Minister’s demonetisation announcement had political, economic and social ramifications, he said adding that any wrong decision devoid of proper planning and execution would only lead to further erroneous actions. If the Prime Minister was keen on eradication of black money then why was he hesitant to stop funding of political parties by cash, he asked.
K. Suresh, president and chief executive officer, India Cements Capital Limited, said though Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold decision had to be appreciated, there seemed to be no planning and proper follow-up in distribution of required money in the rural and urban areas.
Money supply to rural areas which accounts for 70 per cent of the population had not been planned, Mr. Suresh further said. Business activities had taken a severe hit and vegetable prices had plummeted affecting the farming community as a sequel to the demonetisation announcement, he said.
V. Nagappan, Member, Advisory Committee, Madras Stock Exchange wanted the government to come out with a white paper on demonetisation as it had impacted all sections of the society.
M. Sathya Kumar, director, KPMG Consulting said Rs.2,600 crore of unaccounted income had been detected during series of raids conducted post demonetisation. R. Rangaraj Pandey, Chief News Editor, Thanthi Television, moderated the debate.
