Jaitley, according to a report by PTI, said that currency note printing presses of Reserve Bank of India as well as Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) have worked without a break to remonetise by issuing new bank notes.
Speaking at the 11th Foundation Day function of SPMCIL in the national capital, he made fun of his government’s critics saying that the easiest task during demonetisation was to pass comments and make snide remarks.
“But, the toughest work is to implement it. This is perhaps the biggest demonetisation drive in the world that was aimed at striking at the very root of corruption, black money and counterfeit currency,” he said.
Stating that people often commented that it may take up to one year or at least seven months to restore normalcy, he said the task has been achieved within a few weeks. “Normalcy has been restored within a few weeks and there is no shortage (of bank notes) in market for even a day,” he said.
And this has been achieved “without a single incident” of unrest anywhere in the country, he said, adding that this was possible because of the exemplary work done by the printing presses of RBI and SPMCIL who kept the supply line going.
A report by IANS said that only one ATM in Laxmi Nagar of east Delhi was found dispensing cash out of a total of eight visited by its reporter. Rest either had ‘no cash’ signs or were simply ‘out of order’.