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Demonetisation: Act in hurry, regret at leisure

It is next to impossible that the entire rubbished currency will be replaced by the proposed deadline of December 30. And, if not, there could be  unrest in some pockets of the country.  Even without the Opposition fuelling trouble, ordinary people are genuinely hurt . It will not be surprising if they emerge on the streets at the end of the 50-day period the Prime Minister has sought  to remonetise. Members of the ruling party themselves are beginning to have misgivings about the impact of  notebandi. Rural, and largely informal, economy is nearly paralysed due to the famine of  notes. Unorganised sector, which accounts for over eighty per cent of the jobs, is in crisis. Tens of thousands of daily wagers have been rendered jobless with many returning to their native villages. In UP’s hinterland  things are so bad that several ruling party MPs are afraid to venture out, fearing embarrassment at the disappearance of legal currency. The initial euphoria felt by  ordinary people at the assault on black money is now slowly yielding to skepticism about the all-intrusive exercise, especially when the poor are suffering while the neighbourhood trader shows no apparent sign of personal discomfort and hardship. It is natural for the have-nots to draw comfort if the haves are in trouble.  Daily reports about some people found with crores in new currency when juxtaposed with the sight of millions lined up before banks and ATMs,  very often  in vain,  fuel popular anger at the whole notebandi shindig. How could the authorities be so unthinking, nay, so dense as not to be ready with new notes while declaring the old ones illegal. It was like someone pulling down his old and crumbling house to build a new one without making arrangement about alternative accommodation during the construction period. Failure to reckon with such commonsensical  questions further underlines the one-man nature of the  Government. Now, we cannot be  one hundred per cent certain if any of his Cabinet Ministers was party to the November 8 decision. But we are certain that Amit Shah was in the loop. If he too failed to see the consequences of a haphazard demonetisation without  minimal preparation, his party might have to pay a huge price in the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, particularly if there is no adequate supply of new notes by the end of the December 30 deadline.
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