essay on demonetization
Answers
Demonetization
'PM Narendra Modi's decision of banning 500&1000 notes has caused political, economical, and social turbulence in India. ‘This move of the PM is being hailed as significant and important an event as was Mahatma Gandhi’s movements against the British. He did it for the political freedom of the country; PM Modi did it for the economic freedom of the poor and underprivileged people of our country.
It is not the first time currency is being changed. It has happened earlier also. Demonetization was implemented first in 1946, in 1956, and in 1978 also. The purpose behind previous demonetization reforms were the same as is now—curbing counterfeit money and black money.
This crusade against the black money has been welcomed by the masses. However, there is furor of protests, complaints, and resistance to the move from those who have been hit hard, especially the corrupt politicians, businessmen, etc. PM Modi’s banning the notes aims at ferreting out billions of rupees stashed away in hard cash by some unscrupulous anti-national people such as criminals, terrorists, drug-smugglers, gamblers, corrupt politicians and officers, and businessmen.
It has been reported that India is on top of the list of countries that have kept their black money in Swiss Banks. India with $1,456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than the rest of the world combined. So you can imagine the extent of black money problem in our country. Similarly, within the nation the amount of hidden black money in the form of 500 and 1000 rupees notes is equally staggering. If the same amount is brought back to our country, our economy will flourish fast. PM Modi’s intention behind the move is purely to break the back of those people who have the black money or are involved in black money activities. Secondly, some anti-national agencies are using this black money and fake money to destabilize India. Pakistan and China are directly involved in these countries. PM Modi’s move aims at disrupting their anti-India activities by banning these notes, as it has been confirmed, these anti-India agencies use fake 500 and 1000 rupees notes by printing them.
Undoubtedly, the entire nation faced many problems such as long queues at banks, ATMs, etc., the Government tried its best to make people comfortable by providing incentives and facilities on cashless transactions. Nor was there any shortage of basic necessity goods and commodities. People who want corruption and misuse of money appreciated the move and bore all the inconveniences smilingly. Only those who incurred heavy losses owing to hoarding and stashing away currency in bulk were found complaining.
One just fails to understand as to why some political parties in opposition who are unnecessarily making such a mountain out of a molehill. The PM has taken this step keeping the country’s prosperity and security in mind. Undoubtedly, there will be some inconvenience for some days. Such politicians as are trying to take undue advantage of the situation must be ashamed of themselves. Besides, the poor, the mediocre sections of India have welcomed this decision of the PM. In the long run this move is going to benefit the nation. There will be less corruption; more investment; better infrastructure; and general improvement in everything.
A country initiates such a move for reasons such as to discourage an economy dependent on cash, to do away with corruption, to check inflation etc. In 1873, The Coinage Act demonetized silver coins as the legal tender of the United States. The two-cent piece, three-cent piece, and half dime were all discontinued. This withdrawal resulted in a contraction of the money supply and led to an economic depression in the country. In 2002, when the nations of the European Union used the euro as their everyday currency, other currencies such as the Italian Lira, the German mark, the French franc etc were demonetized. However, people were allowed to convert these currencies into Euros for a certain period of time.
In 2016, the Prime Minister of India in a sudden move demonetized the widely circulated currency in the country the 500 - and 1000 - rupee notes. The announcement was made on November 8th 2016 and these notes were considered worthless and ineffective immediately. People were given time till the end of the year to deposit or exchange the old notes, for newly introduced 2000 rupee and 500 rupee bills.
The announcement was received with a lot of anger and resentment. Confusion prevailed, since India is a cash-dependent economy. Long queues outside ATMs and banks led to them being shut down for days. The new currency notes had different specifications,and needed to be re-calibrated into all the ATMs in the country. The government also added a restriction on daily withdrawal amounts, which led to a greater struggle. Soon after the announcement, people rushed to buy gold. This move effected small retail shops that do not have facilities for people to swipe their cards, including the small vendors who sell vegetables and fruits on the street, businessmen who need to make payments in cash daily etc.
In India, this move was carried out to wipe out black money from the economy.