New Delhi: Arthakranti Pratishthan, a Pune-based organisation, was at the forefront of the demonetisation debate. Much before PM Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes, Arthakranti had proposed withdrawal of bank notes above Rs 50 to ‘transform’ the socio-economic scenario.
Anil Bokil, the head of Arthakranti, claims that his presentation to Modi partly influenced the decision to scrap high value notes on November 8, 2016. News18’s Tushar Dhara spoke over the phone with Bokil to get his reaction to the release of the RBI annual report, which said 99% of demonetised currency has come back into the system.
Edited excerpts:
The RBI has said about 99% of demonetised currency is back. Your reactions.
The RBI is not in a position to say what quantity of currency is back in the banking system. It is probably more than 100%, closer to 130%. This is because there was a huge amount of fake notes circulating in the economy before demonetisation.
But the RBI mentioned in its report that the value of counterfeit notes amounted to about Rs 40 crore?
Can the RBI or the government reveal the true picture of the volume of counterfeit notes in the Indian economy? Can they say that it is more than Rs 40 crore? It would cause a huge loss of confidence in the economy. The fact is that among the notes that have come back there are genuine ones as well as counterfeit currency.
So are you saying the RBI has got it wrong?
I am merely saying that demonetisation was to filter out the fake currency notes in the Indian economy. Can any bank say there was so much fake currency in the system, pumped in by enemy governments, without eroding the confidence of the people in the economy?
Was demonetisation a success or a failure?
Where is the question of success or failure? It was neither. It was merely a way to root out fake currency.
But one of the justifications given during demonetisation was that it would unearth black money.
Who said demonetisation was about black money? It was about ending the menace of fake currency. Now that those notes are in the banking system, it is up to the Income Tax Department to do the take follow up. After the massive deposits of cash into the banking system, there is a paper trail and if you are a terrorist organization, the government can and should track you.
The Prime Minister had said demonetisation would curb the menace of black money?
What we said was one thing, what the government did was another.
What exactly did you say? Please elaborate.
High value denomination notes are among the most counterfeited. Even the United States of America after 1969 discontinued dollar bills greater than $100. Our proposal is also that any Indian note above Rs 50 should be discontinued. The proposals can be found on our website too.
Didn’t the government expect that at least Rs 2 or 3 lakh crore would not return to the banking system after demonetisation?
Who said that? This expectation was merely speculation, it was political speculation. The real objective was to tackle fake currency because nobody can tell how much of it there is. It is very hard to tell a real note from a fake note.
So has corruption stopped now, as was stated after demonetisation?
Who said corruption has stopped? The real battle against corruption has only begun now. It is not an on/off switch. Corruption is not an event, it is a process.
But the government has introduced a higher denomination Rs 2000 rupee note.
They are restricting the supply of Rs 2,000 notes. You are not getting them in ATMs…
Tremendous hardship was caused during demonetisation. Was it worth it?
Leave that, it has no relevance. The fact is that counterfeiting currency is the most profitable business in the world. You have to understand currency, by spending Rs 20 rupees you can earn Rs 1,000. Is there anything more profitable? Big denomination notes are harmful. They increase corruption and cause multi-organ failure in the economy.
But prominent economists, including former governors of the RBI, have criticized demonetisation.
We have no interest in criticizing Raghuram Rajan. We are only interested in our proposals.
Do you think your proposals are the best way forward for the Indian economy?
If there are any proposals that are better, we will adopt those. But right now we haven’t come across anything that is better than ours.
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