'Monumental Mismanagement'- Dr Manmohan Singh says on implementation of demonetisation

Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday came down heavily on the Union Government over demonetisation and termed its implementation as "monumental mismanagement".

New Delhi, Nov 24: Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday came down heavily on the Union Government over demonetisation and termed its implementation as "monumental mismanagement".

Dr. Singh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come up with constructive proposals to provide relief to the people, who have been facing inconvenience due to serpentine queues at banks and ATMs.

"I want to ask PM that can he name any country where people have deposited their money but are not able to withdraw it," the former PM said in his address to the Rajya Sabha.

He recalled Prime Minister Modi's remark asking people to bear with the inconvenience for 50 days and said, "For the poor section even 50 days can be detrimental."

Asserting that cooperative banking sector serving large parts of rural India had come to a standstill, Singh called for "pragmatic" measures to relieve people from distress.

The former PM said that the prevailing situation can "weaken people's confidence in currency and banking system."

"Those who say demonetisation is good in the long run should recall quote 'In the long run we are all dead'," he said.

Earlier this month, the government demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, replacing them with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 bills in an effort to root out black money and terror funding.

The decision has had a severe impact on the lives of the people as massive cash crunch hit the entire nation.

People faced grave inconvenience as everyone queued up in front of banks and ATMs to get hold of valid currency notes.

Oneindia News