Both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government seem to be unwilling to take responsibility and are passing the ‘demonetisation mess’ buck to each other.
The government, which described the move as 'pain for gain', had said the decision to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes actually came from the Central Bank. The RBI, in its turn, said the notes were withdrawn on the government's "advice". While accolades for gain is clearly sought, neither the government nor the RBI is ready to take accountability for the “pain”.
Quoting a seven page-long letter submitted by the RBI to the Parliament's Department Related Committee of Finance headed by Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on 22 December, The Indian Express reported:
A month before RBI's submission and 18 days after the decision was implemented, bringing a severe cash crunch in the economy, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on 26 November, had said:
Even Union Minister Piyush Goyal had said in clear words to the Parliament on 16 November:
However, in its note to the Parliamentary Panel which was reported by The Indian Express, the RBI, under the heading "background" and "preparations" wrote:
In fact, on 29 December, the Central Bank released information under the Right to Information Act insisting that the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 was approved less that that three hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public announcement on 8 November, 2016.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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