VIJAYAWADA: People from various walks of life expressed frustration and desperation over the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and various problems they were facing after the move, at a roundtable conference organised by the Congress at Andhra Ratna Bhavan here on Monday.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Raghuveera Reddy said that people from over two dozen civic societies and workers’ unions were invited to the roundtable to elicit their views on the impact of demonetisation.
The doubts of the people at the roundtable would be raised in Parliament, the PCC chief said. The people had many doubts over the actual purpose of demonetisation and various steps that were being taken after it.
Allegations were made about some influential people being tipped about demonetisation before November 8 so that they could take care of their liquid cash reserves. The Central government should appoint a sitting Supreme Court judge to inquire into the allegations, he demanded.
Many of the speakers narrated the travails they were facing due to lack of sufficient currency.
“Earlier customers asked if I was ready to go to a particular location, but now they are asking if I had change for Rs 2,000. The number of customers taking autorickshaws has fallen drastically,” said an autorickshaw driver.
Auto Drivers’ Union leader V. Madhava Rao said in his three-decade stint as an auto driver he never saw such a severe crisis.
Former office-bearer of the Institute of Engineers M.R.S. Prakasha Rao said that even he was unable to understand the logic behind demonetising Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and then releasing Rs. 2,000 notes.
Weavers’ Association leader K. Suribabu said that demonetisation had hit hard handloom weavers and Kalamkari workers. Two or three workers who were paid Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 a day were being given old Rs. 500 notes and asked to share. When the workers go to bank to exchange the old notes they were being given Rs. 2,000 notes which was more difficult to break up, he explained.
PCC vice-president T.J.R. Sudhakar Babu, who was the moderator, took detailed notes of the representations made by the speakers.
