Demonetisation has disrupted the economy, says VCK chief

Economic development has taken a back seat: Thol. Thirumavalavan

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of imposing demonetisation on the people and said that the move had disrupted the economy.

The poor and the have-nots had been hit severely by demonetisation and the economic development had taken a back seat because of this precarious move on the part of the Centre.

Speaking at the party’s “Constitution protection conference”, he said the recent development marked by the exit of the MDMK from the Peoples’ Welfare Front (PWF) was a direct fallout of the demonetisation move as differences of opinion had cropped up between Mr. Vaiko and other constituents of the front.

Mr. Thirumavalavan said that when the PWF was formed there were strong rumours that the alliance would fall like a pack of cards. But the alliance remained intact. Although the constituent parties were shocked by Mr. Vaiko’s exit, the front would continue to exist, he said.

Most people affected

CPI (M) secretary G. Ramakrishnan said that about 90 per cent of the population in the country had been affected by demonetisation and 100 people had died due to its impact.

The Dalits and the downtrodden were specifically affected because of the move while the affluent and major industrialists had been getting protection.

Mr. Ramakrishnan said that a committee was formed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2002 to eradicate black money. But the recommendations of the committee were rejected, he said.

Demonetisation would never succeed and this had been evaluated to be a helpless strategy by the economic experts. In Puducherry, of the 29,000 shops, only 400 had been equipped with the point of sale machines. Hence, demonetisation was a step in the wrong direction, he added.

VCK chief says economic development had taken a back seat and the poor were worst hit