Demonetisation, a historic blunder: Manmohan Singh

Kochi: Terming that Demonetisation turned out to be a 'historic blunder', former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh of Friday alleged that the people in the country gained hardships because of this adventure.Addressing a public meeting, organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee here, he said, the BJP government, which came into power with tall promises, failed miserably in implementing it.

'On November 8, 2016 night Mr Modi demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes and he said that this decision was mean to unearth black money, curb terrorism and to check the flow of fake currency from Pakistan. But what have the people of India gained from this adventure except to be the recipient of fresh hardships,’’ he asked.

Pointing out that at least one hundred persons died standing queues outside the banks, he said the withdrawal of 86 per cent of currency imposed severe hardships on India’s farmers and small industries and traders. 

'During the election campaign Mr Modi promised the people of India that he will bring back all the black money that is hoarded overseas and deposit Rs 15 lakh in the account of every citizen gained from the BJP rule?’’ he asked.

Regarding the GST imposed by the BJP government, Dr Manmohan Singh said 'GST is an idea which had the blessings of the Congress Party. But we would have implemented it after due care and adequate preparation. Our aim was one country one tax structure. What is the net impact of demonetisation and hasty implementation of the GST? he further asked.

Sating that the GST led to a slowdown of economic growth, he said 'GDP growth rate came down from 7.2 per cent in 2015-2016 to 5.7 in the first quarter of 2017-2018. Small industries and small traders were badly hurt. I don’t see any immediate recover in sight.’’(UNI)