Decision on demonetisation of high-value currency notes ‘hasty and faulty’, says Puducherry Congress

The ruling Congress party in Puducherry on Monday dubbed as "hasty and faulty" the Centre's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, saying it has been causing an "extensive hardship" to the common man and petty vendors for nearly a week.

A delegation of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), led by its vice-president A Gandhiraj, presented a petition to the acting Chief Secretary of the union territory, G Narendra Kumar, drawing the Centre's attention to the "sufferings of the common man".

People were not able to get cash they needed for routine transactions and expenses, the petition said, adding that the Centre should make arrangements for an easy availability of currency notes of smaller denominations.

"The demonetisation, effected from the midnight of November 8, has caused panic and an anarchic situation and the victims of the policy are the 'aam admi' of the nation," it said, alleging that the "weaknesses" of the Narendra Modi government in solving the common man's sufferings had been "exposed" by the move.

The petition alleged that the demonetisation was a "cover up political stunt to conceal the inefficiency of the Centre" in unearthing the black money stashed away safely in foreign banks.

It also claimed that substituting the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes with Rs 2,000 currency notes was "a blunder" as it caused "hardships" to the common man in purchasing his daily ration and groceries.

The demonetisation had also caused financial loss to the tune of Rs 5 crore a day in Puducherry and the government also suffered revenue loss by way of loss of sales and service tax, it said.

The union territory continued to witness long queues at banks and ATMs while several of the cash-dispensing machines remained dysfunctional.