- Former prime minister Manmohan Singh addressed traders and businessmen in Ahmedabad today
- He said that the stated objectives of note ban have not been met
- He added that the fear of tax terrorism has eroded confidence of Indian businesses to invest
- In an exclusive interview with BloombergQuint on 6 November, Singh called demonetisation a “blunder”
- Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is likely to tour Surat tomorrow
- The party will mark the first demonetisation anniversary as ‘Black Day’
Note Ban's Objectives Not Met: Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while discussing the current economic situation with traders and businessmen in Ahmedabad, said that he was shocked when he heard PM Modi’s note ban announcement last year and “wondered who advised him on this reckless step”.
Black money and tax evasion are a menace that need to be tackled, but note ban was not the solution. It had been suggested many times in the past as well, but as a responsible government we never took such a drastic measure. Nowhere in the world has any nation taken such a drastic step that took away 86 percent of the legal tender...The stated objectives of note ban have not been met.
He said that in order to promote a cashless economy, coercive steps like demonetisation are ineffective.
I repeat what I said in the parliament, this was organised loot and legalised plunder. This twin blow (GST and note ban) is a complete disaster for our economy.
The former PM further lashed out at the Centre saying that instead of providing relief to the poor and mariginalised farmers and traders who had suffered from note ban, the government inflicted upon them the “badly-designed” GST.
It’s broken the back of small and medium enterprises. Industrial clusters have been affected and that has hampered production... We had to run for Chinese imports at the cost of Indian jobs. In the first half of 2016-17, India’s imports from China stood at Rs 1.96 lakh crore. In 2017-18, it increased to Rs 2.41 lakh crore.
Manmohan Singh called the launch of bullet train an “exercise of vanity”.
Did the PM consider the alternative of the high speed train by upgrading broad gauge railway? Our railways is languishing and is in dire need of investments...
Ex PM Manmohan Singh Heads to Ahmedabad Today
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address small traders and businessmen on Goods and Service Tax (GST) and other issues in Ahmedabad today. He will also speak at a press conference at the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee office to boost the party's prospects in the upcoming Gujarat elections.
Singh will take part in an interactive session on the current state of economy with businessmen and traders during his visit, the Gujarat Congress said in a release.
His visit comes a day before Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s likely tour of Surat as the Congress marks the first demonetisation anniversary on 8 November as ‘Black Day’.
The former prime minister is visiting Gujarat at a time the state is witnessing a heated campaigning for the assembly polls.
It is expected that the economist-politician would touch upon various aspects related to note ban as well as the implementation of GST and its impact on the economy during his interaction with the business community.
Modi Should Admit Note Ban Blunder, Seek Support: Manmohan Singh
In a rare interview to Praveen Chakravarty, contributing editor at BloombergQuint, the former prime minister said the impact of demonetisation “on the weaker sections of our society and business is far more damaging than any economic indicator can reveal.”
Manmohan Singh expressed concern regarding the loss of jobs in the small and medium enterprises sector and also emphasised the exacerbating impact that it may have on inequality.
...rising inequality has been a constant threat to our nature of economic development. Demonetisation may exacerbate such inequalities which can be harder to rectify in the future. In such a diverse country such as ours, inequality can prove to be a far greater social malaise than in other homogeneous nations.Manmohan Singh, Former Prime Minister, India
Read the full story here.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)