Flaying the Union government’s demonetisation programme, a group of Muslim Youth League (MYL) workers staged a symbolic protest near the State Bank of India (SBI) office at Mananchira on Monday by preparing rice gruel and supplying it to customers who turned up for exchanging currency notes.
The protesters said the overnight scrapping of notes had forced a majority of the people to “survive on rice gruel” as they had restricted access to their savings. The cooperative banking sector, in which most of the lower-income groups in rural areas had put their savings, was the worst-hit.
Launching the protest, Indian Union Muslim League State vice president C. Moyinkutty said, “The reckless implementation of the demonetisation process completely stalled the economic growth of the country, affecting the normal life.” For many poor segments, it is equal to a financial emergency, he added.
Indian National League (INL) activists took out a separate march to the SBI office on Monday, alleging that the Narendra Modi-led Union government was trying to impose curbs on the commoner’s savings in the name of controlling unaccounted money.
They also argued that the families of Non-Resident Keralites and small scale traders in Kerala were struggling a lot to manage the unexpected crisis.
INL’s national secretary Ahammed Devarcoil, who inaugurated the protest march, said the new currency reform, implemented without any planning, was creating a sense of financial insecurity among citizens. The disgruntlement would create unrest in the country, he said.
