GD Monday - Is Demonetization Useless?

Vishal Gori

Demonetization has been of great help to get rid of the counterfeit (fake) currency notes especially of 500 & 1000 denominations which were mainly used for Terror funding Outside as well as Inside (communal violence). This Fake notes travel via Hawala Operators of Dawood Ibrahim & Let operatives from pakistan.

5 Dec 2016, 07.39 AM

Sahil Poddar

The demonetization move shall prove to be very beneficial. From personal experience I can state that this move is a quantum leap in the direction of a cashless economy. Small businesses in small towns like my own(siliguri) have now started transacting through cards and e-wallets. A cashless economy would gurantee not only a corruption free nation, it shall be the final nail on the grave for fake currency and terrorist activities therefrom.

5 Dec 2016, 07.48 AM

Suvodip De

I though the intention is good...it could certainly be better planned causing less inconvenience to the general mass

5 Dec 2016, 10.25 AM

Mohit Gupta

I think Demonetization is an ill conceived move. Also intentions seems to be bit shady. Reasons for the same are: 1. Demonetization attacks at black money not the source of it. Since biggest source of black money is Election funding which subsequently leads to corrupt practices by politicians holding office of power, election reforms should have been first step to actually curb the menace of black money. Currently any donation below the amount of Rs 20,000 doesn't need to be reported. This gives a lot of room for accumulating illicit cash. 2. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Gujarat state assembly elections will be held in next (2017) year. There are fairly high chances that ruling party has already converted its own unaccounted money whereas leaving other party high and dry. 3. If we look at the figures, RBI has cancelled legal tenders worth almost 14.5 Lakh Crores. Banks have already received deposits worth 8.5 Lakh Crores. Almost 1.5 Lakh Crores of cash is with bank for running day to day operations. There are still 20-25 days left for cash to be declared. So we are looking at max 20-30 % of money scrapping which was not worth the pain this step has inflicted upon common man and country's economy which is going to suffer a cycle of low consumption for next 3-4 quarters. 4. Honorable Prime Minister cannot ask citizens to move to plastic money overnight without having sufficient payment systems infrastructure in place. India is one of the major world economies which has a very high percentage of cash based transactions (68%). Before taking up this move, large scale awareness campaign about usage of digital modes of payment should have been organized. This move definitely appeals to those who consumes a major chunk of information through media , modern middle income families and salaried people who pays every penny of taxes, but it has huge negative impacts on small scale industries which rely on cash for running daily operations. It would have been better had government taken up a more realistic approach rather than a populist one. On a lighter note, I am not against this move but definitely not in favor of it. Comments are welcome. :)

5 Dec 2016, 11.04 AM

Bhavik Kukdeja

Its too soon to speak about the consequences of this radical move by Mr Modi. Speaking of facts, 86% of money circulated in the market consists of Rs 500 and 1000 notes. So, it is tacit that it can cause short term problem to the common people. But looking at the big picture, it seems likely that demonitization will take a toll on money hoarders. These bad guys are also responsible for sponsoring terrorism directly or indirectly. Recently IT department announced approx. Rs 67000 Cr illegit money declared since demonitization.

5 Dec 2016, 12.38 PM

Sharath Kumar

MBA 2019-21 at SJMSOM IIT Bombay Like Poetry and Football is love.

The demonetization move is fruitful in a developing nation like India as it's primary intention is to keep check on ill obtained gains of some corrupt Indians. More effort may have been put in the adoption of such a huge decision which has an effect on the daily activities of all sections of the society. Precautionary measures of providing the monetary denominations like that of 100s and new 2000s in a considerably larger number could be more effective. In some cases the ATMs were not calibrated for the new notes and it took a significant time to get the process through. Although this initiative promotes cashless economy India is far away from providing the requirements for the same as most of the Indian population is concentrated in the rural and the suburbs. Along with the demonetization move educating illiterate people to use E-banking services and credit and debit cards through media and other means would help. It is probably one of the decisive moves in the modern economy and the fruits of it requires a patient journey with a lot of hurdles on the way

6 Dec 2016, 01.36 AM

Tony Sebastian

Demonetization is not useless. The overtly publicised ideals behind the move - punishing those with ill gotten wealth, curtailing counterfeiting which is responsible for financing terrorist activities- will not be achieved. Demonetization tackles only the part of black money stored as cash and that too imperfectly. It does not put even a considerable dent in the black economy or the mass of black wealth primarily because cash(in INR) is not the only store of value that can be used for transactions or saved as wealth. The issue of counterfeiting has not been dealt a severe blow as we have learned that counterfeiters of the new notes have already been printed and are in circulation. These notes are able to go undetected to a larger extent in the current scenario as people are not even familiar with the real new notes. The attack on counterfeiting was labelled as a measure to deter terrorist funding, however a majority of the terrorist activities in our country have been state(Pakistan usually) sponsored acts according to our elected representatives. Other states are not affected in their capacity to finance terrorism as they do not rely on the INR. There are also numerous instances of this initiative hurting those that are not upper-class, tech-savvy, and quite possibly possessing immense black wealth safely tucked away in instruments other than hard cash. What the demonetization drive achieved was a renewed vigour among the government's supporters through the narrative of likening the ruling party to be patriotic, anti black money, etc and the opposing parties to be those protecting the big baddies with hoardes of black money. This narrative and similar narratives in support of the ruling party and the government provide an influx of political support that is much needed before crucial elections.

6 Dec 2016, 04.55 AM

Yash Singh

It is easier said than done. Cashless economy? so how are planning to pay a person who earned 200-300 rupees on a daily basis. Paytm karoo? is that so? it is easy for us to say that a India will become Cashless or it is an easy move but ask those under privileged and poor people in small villages who were finally getting out of the clutches of bigger landlords and seths by independently working on their farms with the help of various schemes. These people didnot have bank accounts and even if they had bank were athe distant places but now they will again rely on bigger lalas and seths to provide them with the new currency by offering them certain amount.Is this not forcing them again under someone else's domain? oh yes, I have not used atm once but still my binge eating habits didnot suffer thanks to all those cashbook offers and net banking but a hawker, is he supposed to order a pizza for his family? a person earning 200 300 per day is supposed to eat 2meals if not more by using Internet? I guess no! this is not possible. how will they feed their families? And who says corruption will stop? I see people around me enjoying even more, why? well, if you get a new iPhone, new watch, new TV, new car just for the sake of spending your money then who says corrupt people are suffering? The one who are suffering are the once who are right now standing in lines and dont have the audacity to buy gadgets and waste their hard earned money. Demonetisation is going to take us back from where we started a few years back.

6 Dec 2016, 04.57 AM

Mohit Aggarwal

I feel that Demonitisation is a very bold step in such a democratic country.. Before demonitisation the administration could never able to track what was the actual amount of money that be can used for development..Moreover people were minting money by any sort without any fear of punishment which has forced the honest man to think that honesty is the biggest crime of today's era..But after the demonitisation get imposed the local public was ready to bear the hardships as they know that this are all short term nuisance but at longer run we all will sense positiveness,honesty,discipline comparatively more which they haven't seen before.I support the move wholeheartedly but from the management point of view,government hadn't completed it's homework properly

6 Dec 2016, 06.00 AM

Aniket Agrawal

Yes the buzzword is demonetisation, Is it a good step or not is in the realms of future but what can be done now is important. It has immediately delivered short term gains in the form of uprooting stone pelting activities in the valley, counterfeit currency fortresses in malda (West Bengal) and in other places. As of now approximately 10 lack crore has been deposited in the bank accounts and approximately 30-40% of this money has been withdrawn in cash through various means. According to the present rate we may face a situation in which more cash than that estimated could be deposited in the bank accounts suggesting widespread conversion of black money and a minuscule percentage counterfeit notes. This can easily be validated by checking stats of Jan Dhan Accounts and other poor people who have never filled ITR. Naturally since the announcement of the move people are facing cash crunch, now, according to me the following could be done both by the government and people 1. Their is no need of internet to transfer money you can simply do it by using USSD ( a method used to check phone balance) just dial #99* from your registered prepaid number and you can transfer upto 5000. 2. You can also pay using aadhar. 3. And off course for the tech savvy you have wallets, banking apps upi etc. So the government has the infrastructure in place for such a massive move. 4. The government can still help people by removing altogether all the costs that are levied on electronic methods and instead offer reward points. 5. The use cash should be made less convenient by levying surcharge on it's use. 6. Till 31st march the govt should allow any utility bill above 500 to be settled in old notes, like electricity, tax, tolls, hospitals and any other state owned services. 7. After 31st march the govt should incorporate complete digitisation of its services in the next financial year and also make phase wise programs for cities and rural areas was done with cable digitisation process. 8. Petrol, Liquor, Gold, Real Estate, Political Funding and goods& services attracting 12 18 and 28 % GST can only be bought via digital modes.

6 Dec 2016, 07.46 AM

monishankar dutta

Demonetization was introduced to curb black money and remove counterfeit notes circulating in the economy. Since the 500 and 1000 rupee note constitute 86% of the cash in the system, its removal will lead to temporary liquidity crunch in the economy. This could bring down domestic consumption which in turn will affect production of different items. This might impact GDP growth in short term. India has a very high cash to GDP ratio of around 12% (global average of around 4%). So the move to encourage cashless economy through demonetization is a welcome move. But with cash transactions being prime form of transaction, it will be difficult to switch to cashless economy so drastically. Also lack of necessary infrastructure in rural could be a hindrance to cashless economy. The intentions behind demonetization is no doubt praiseworthy but the planning and management of the whole thing could have better.

6 Dec 2016, 08.18 AM

prachi sopariwala

Demonetisation is a commendable move but could have been implemented in a better manner.Launch of 2000 rupee note would make accumulation of black money more easy in long term.Secondly it hinders the poorer section of society from undertaking their daily transactions of low denominations.The poor also don't have access to technology and a sudden shift to instruments like debit cards , credit cards ,e-wallets etc is a daunting task for them.

6 Dec 2016, 12.01 PM

Guru Shukla

Most awaited topic for debaters..... While making a constitution of india Dr. Baba saheb ambedkar had advised to demonetize old currency after regular interval of period(nearly after 10 year) to curb a black money. I am not ambedkar follower but he is a man behind our constitution. I support his thoughts. i support Mr. modi. This may not look feasible solution to remove corruption but this is proper step to curb black money. There exists a difference between removing corruption and curbing black money. Curbing black money is a primary step taken by government to make india corruption free. You need to have a process to remove corruption from root. I do support Demonetisation. Role played by Modi government is fruitful in terms of vision. It will definitely have good impact after certain period( probably 6-8 months).Though near term results are cause of concern people of india has accepted this challenge. Sensex swinging like pendulum around 26.5k is an indicator of unstable market, on other hand this is an opportunity for investor to go after a premium stocks as stock prices have fell down by 20-30%. Things will change but will take time. The only thing which could have been better is management. Plan was perfect but mismanagement has done the damage. Experts are saying GDP is going to fall down but money is coming into system from various sources eg. tax evaders, Looting persons, etc. It will ultimately gonna add to GDP. GST will also come into picture. Trump is also waiting to play a role in indian market. Sudden change in a local environment which was handling everything in cash is a problem of concern. It will take time to settle this move. Things could have been better if it was properly arranged. Government of india is working on it. Except opposition parties every1 is supporting this move. Opposition parties doing there work very effectively(opposing to ruling party) let modi government do its work.

6 Dec 2016, 12.36 PM

Tanya Sharma

The government's move is not new in form, it has been done before. What is significant about Modi's demonetization is all the hullabaloo which seems like a distracting political gimmick. What should have been implemented in phases has been done in a extremely hasty manner. A revolutionary move indeed, not because it will curb the shadow economy, but because it may bring about a change of the old order.

7 Dec 2016, 01.42 AM

Sayyed Muhammed

The timing and preparation were not proper. As per RBI data, the most of the agricultural income come in 3rd quarter. The implementation in this time will distress the farmers. From marketers view point, the october, november and december are the festival season and most of sales happens that time. The infrastructure for cashless economy is still not enough and the most of the traders in unorganized sectors don't have cashless payment facility. In my opinion government should have implement program for enable cashless economy before this demonitisation move, then common might people suffer less when demonitisation implemented

7 Dec 2016, 12.48 PM

Debashish Mishra

" That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."These were the first words spoken by a human being on the surface of MOON. I can't resist but correlate it with the 'demonetisation ' step taken forth by our Leaders. The process kicked off by dis-continuation of the old currency notes and replacing them with new.Sure cashless economy and other trinkets just kept piling up.Yeah it did cause some burps..few oopss moment. Netas shouting over. People suffering and what not. However from the very perspective of common man , i think this scheme caused the least discomfort. I doubt an average man having more than few big currency notes. Yes it was a big issue for the politicians , doctors or other upper strata of our society who were prone to hoarding leaps of money in the most inconvinient places of there houses. But with 90% of our society failing to fall under this category is hardly an issue to ponder about.Yeah the queue outside the banks and ATM's have failed to shorten with time. But with India knocking the doors of being developed economy , steps as stern as this were inevitable to be taken.The black money and money laundering were the poisoned blood which could have been fatal with time. To take tough measures to curb it sure sustains minor injuries. However with this 'Dialysis' we might say" Astala Vista" to corruption within the span of few years now.

9 Dec 2016, 03.14 AM

Ashish Mishra

1st Year, IIFT Delhi

Read my views on Demonetisation - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everything-you-need-know-demonetisation-ashish-mishra

10 Dec 2016, 04.38 AM

Nikhil Deepak

Demonetisation is surely not a useless sort of action .demonetization of 500 and 100 currency notes surely going to be fruitful in coming next few quarters.this will have a great impact on indian economy with massive reduction in lending rates by banking institutions to proper channelize the supply and demand .indeed ,this cleanup drive eventually going to help middle class group.certain pros and cons are associated with this decision like atm calibration, proper implementation ,long ques outside the atm and banks but the millon dollar question is this inconvenience is more painful than what we are facing till date in the name of corruption ,higer real state prices .this parallel economy of black money not only deepening the roots of corrution but also provide hinderence of services and facilities which could be make available to our deprieved and poorest section of the society.we should be optimistic,about this courageous decision taken by govt. and help our hands in their deeds .

3 Jan 2017, 05.06 PM

shubhanshu srivastava

although the government is quite effective on rest of the decisions but i think the demonitisation decision was not much effective and required at this stage when we were improving in terms of our gdpi. 2nd i would like to say is demonitisation was a step mainly taken to eradicate and sweep out paper black money but most of the black money is either invested or in gold or in properties. because of this decision the total number of (productive) manpower loss to the indian economy is of huge concern. the printing of 2000 note is a also not a very productive move in a country where people have a lot of black money to store. the last point i will like to end with is then in the path of promoting digital India we took a step which was not at all required at this point of time where people don't have access to the basic needs like toilets, hospitals, shelter and food we are dreaming of going cashless.

30 Jan 2017, 04.54 AM