How secret then was Modi’s ‘surgical strike’ against black money and terrorism? Clearly there was sufficient prior information about the proposed demonetisation to find a ripple in the media.
Read the Jagran Report, dated October 27, 2016, here:
अब आएगा दो हजार का नोट, पहले जारी हो चुका दस हजार का नोट
27 अक्टूबर 2016 00:50 AM
कानपुर (बृजेश दुबे)। केंद्र सरकार काला धन निकालने के लिए जल्द ही नया कदम उठा रही है, जिसके लिए सरकार दो हजार रुपये का नोट जारी करने की तैयारी में है। आरबीआइ जल्द ही हाई सिक्योरिटी फीचर वाले दो हजार रुपये का नोट प्रचलन में ला सकती है। इसके साथ ही जाली नोटों पर अंकुश लगाने के लिए एक हजार व पांच सौ रुपये के नोट को लेकर भी गंभीरता से विचार किया जा रहा है।माना जा रहा है कि आय घोषणा योजना 2016 में घोषित आय को नाकाफी मानते हुए सरकार यह रुख अपना रही है। सूत्रों का कहना है कि इसकी तैयारी हो चुकी है। आरबीआइ ने दो हजार रुपये के हाई सिक्योरिटी फीचर वाले नोट छपने के लिए दे दिए हैं। जल्द ही यह नोट बाजार में दिख सकते हैं। जानकारी के अनुसार देश में प्रचलित करेंसी में सबसे बड़ा हिस्सा पांच सौ और एक हजार रुपये के नोट का है। हालांकि इसके लिए अभी कोई आधिकारिक सूचना जारी नहीं हुई है लेकिन सूत्रों का कहना है कि सरकार विभिन्न मूल्य वर्ग के नए नोट जारी करने जा रही
दस हजार का नोट हो चुका जारी
आरबीआइ इससे पहले दस हजार रुपये का नोट भी छाप चुकी है। 1935 में स्थापना के बाद आरबीआइ ने 1938 में दस हजार रुपये मूल्य का नोट छापा था। इसे 1946 में वापस ले लिया गया था। तब कानपुर का भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक कार्यालय बर्मा (अब म्यांमार) से लेकर भारत के एक बड़े हिस्से के लिए करेंसी चेस्ट का काम करता था। 1954 में भी दस हजार रुपये के नोट छापे गए थे जो 1978 तक चले।
More than one serious question has been raised with the ‘surgical strike’ announcement of prime minister Modi on de-monetization of high currency notes. How secret was the move? Did selected players, close to the regime, know and crudely benefit from the decision, being hailed by the rich and prominent as a decisive move against ‘black money’ ad ‘terrorism?’
The intrepid chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal appears to have touched a raw establishment nerve. “Utterly shameful. Do people want their PM to model for pvt cos? Tomorow, if these companies do wrongdoings, who will act against them? Paytm biggest beneficiary of PM’s announcement. Next day PM appears in its ads. Wha’ts the deal, Mr PM?” Kejriwal asked.
Sharma tweeted back, “Dear Sir, the biggest beneficiary is our country. We are just a tech start-up, trying to solve financial inclusion and make India proud.”
Arvind Kejriwal’s statement on de-monetization.
Was the information about the demonetisation made available to select ‘friends’ before PM Modi made the dramatic announcement?
The Hindustan Times in an interview with Sharma had reported him as saying, “the removal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will help the company, as a lot of people will use Paytm.”
This is one company that seems to have profited from the demonetisation immediately, with the HT reporting, “According to data from the company, in the days after the demonetisation, Paytm’s traffic grew seven times, app downloads increased three times, people added 30% more money to their wallets on Thursday (the first day increase was 10 times over normal days), online transactions grew three times, and offline (payment to retailers) grew five times. Paytm’s transaction value continued to grow 200% every day for the past couple of days.”
As importantly is the question raised by former Finance Minister P.Chidambaram at a press briefing in Delhi: Why has the government introduced the Rs 2000 note if the intention behind the demonetisation was to bust the black money market? “This is a puzzle” said the former Congress Minister.
Gujarati and Hindi newspapers appeared to have been somewhat in the know of the government’s decision. While the editor of the Rajkot-based Akila told Sabrangindia that his newspaper’s bang on prediction of the de-monetization move, that too on April 1, 2016, was an ‘April Fool’s Day prediction, on October 27,2016 the Kanpur edition of the Jagran newspaper published a report under the headline “ab ayega Rs 2000 ka note” (now there will be a Rs 2000 note). Written by journalist Brijesh Dubey, the news item described the features of the new note—that are only now being reported by the Economic Times and others newspapers after it was officially released—and stated clearly that the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were likely to be withdrawn.
Dubey, when contacted by the media said that the news had been reported in Gujarat newspapers much earlier and was not such a big deal. He said that photographs of the Rs 2000 denomination note, the introduction of which first came to be known to most Indians only after PM Modi’s announcement, had started circulating for several weeks now on Whatsapp application on mobile telephones.