'Typical of self-styled Vishwaguru': Congress on withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes

Soon after the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes, Congress on Friday targeted the central government and said it was typical of "self-styled Vishwaguru". Congress communication incharge Jairam Ramesh also criticised the government's demonetisation move taken in November 2016. "2000 rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous Tughlaqi firman of Nov 8 2016 are now being withdrawn," he said.

Also read: RBI withdraws Rs 2,000 bank notes from circulation, but will continue to be legal tender

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Rs 2,000 note is hardly a popular medium of exchange. "We said this in November 2016 and we have been proved correct," he said. The minister further said that the Rs 2,000 note was a band-aid to cover up the "foolish decision of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes which were popular and widely exchanged currencies". 

"A few weeks after Demonetisation, the government/RBI were forced to re-introduce the Rs 500 note. I shall not be surprised if the government/RBI re-introduced the Rs 1000 note as well. Demonetisation has come full circle!"

Today, the RBI said Rs 2,000 currency notes were introduced primarily with the objective of meeting the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time. With fulfillment of that objective and availability of banknotes in other denominations in adequate quantities, the central bank said, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.

Also read: Bank notes in Rs 2,000 denomination will continue to be legal tender: RBI issues FAQs

"A majority of the Rs 2000 denomination notes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4-5 years. It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public."

The RBI said that the Rs 2000 banknote will continue to be legal tender but people are encouraged to deposit and/or exchange these banknotes on or before September 30, 2023.

Watch: Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes withdrawn, will continue as legal tender; What happens to your notes? Know RBI’s advisory on exchange, deposit of Rs 2,000 notes

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said this whole concept of starting the circulation, stopping the circulation of notes, or issuing of new notes, was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the economy suffered due to this. "I don't know what will be the pros and cons of this step but I hope the decision was taken by the experts," he said. 

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