Centre failed to release adequate number of Rs 100 notes: CPI

CPI today said the Centre should have made arrangements to dispense adequate number of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes prior to its decision to scrap high-value currencies

Erode (TN) Nov 21: CPI today said the Centre should have made arrangements to dispense adequate number of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes prior to its decision to scrap high-value currencies, as the public were now struggling to exchange the demonetised money.

"The Centre failed to release adequate Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes prior to announcement of demonetisation of the high- value currencies, leaving the public in the lurch," CPI National Council Member D Pandiyan told reporters here.

He alleged that lakhs of people were struggling to change demonetised currencies in banks and post offices in Tamil Nadu. On the issue of farmers' suicide owing to crop failure in Tamil Nadu, he said committing suicide was not a solution to their problems.

He noted that rainfall deficit and refusal to release Cauvery river water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu were some of the reasons for the drought conditions in the state.

"Hence, political parties and farmers associations should develop self-confidence among farmers and advise them against taking such extreme steps," the CPI leader said.

To a query on the fishermen issue, Pandiyan said fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka should hold talks and arrive at a permanent solution to the contentious problem.

PTI