'Demonetisation has punctured shadow economy, won polls'

Demonetisation has laid shadow economy to rest and has got huge support from people, which was reflected in the recent state Assembly elections, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

During the debate on Supplementary Demand for Grants for 2016-17, Meghwal said consumption, investment and exports, the three components of GDP will slowly see a rising trend, which the critics said has been hurt by demonetisation.

“Demonetisation will reduce the rich-poor divide. It has dealt a heavy blow to the shadow economy, which was 33.7% of Indian economy as per the World Bank report. The positive impact is going to be higher GDP growth as consumption, investment and exports, which are three components of the economy, will get a boost,” Meghwal said.

Meghwal also rejected the opposition’s criticism that the several measures taken by the government were mere slogans and have not really helped the economy in the real sense, saying they were not merely slogans but actual work done on the ground.

“Were ‘Digital India’,  ‘Swachh Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘Stand-Up India’ mere slogans? No, due to these, India has achieved the desired growth path,”  he said. The Lok Sabha later passed the Supplementary Demand for Grants for 2016-17 and Demand for Grants for 2017-18 of various ministries.

Supplementary Demand for Grants is a constitutional obligation and this batch included additional allocation of Rs 3,500 crore for Price Stabilisation Fund, Rs 3,252 crore for implementation of One-Rank, One-Pension among others, Meghwal said.