Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, said on Saturday that the demonetisation policy of the Union government had hit the common man, especially the poor, hard.
He was speaking at a dharna organised by the district unit of the Congress in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here.
Mr. Madhwaraj said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought 50 days to solve the problem of cash arising due to demonetisation. Though that deadline had passed, people were still struggling to get their cash at ATMs and banks.
The government had told the people that they could go to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to get their old notes exchanged after the deadline. But even the RBI was turning back people who went there to exchange their currency notes. It would take at least another 10 months for the situation to return to normalcy.
The net result of this entire exercise was that the country’s economic growth had been pushed back and it would have adverse impact on its Gross Domestic Produce.
The demonetisation had not solved any problem except for giving trouble to ordinary people, Mr. Madhwaraj said.
The protestors later submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Additional Deputy Commissioner G. Anuradha.
