Not accepting notes a breach of trust: Ahmed

Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Sunday said the Reserve Bank of India’s refusal to accept demonetised notes after December 30 is “a major breach of trust”.

He accused the Narendra Modi government of putting people under “tremendous hardship” with the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, demanding that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley must reveal the total value of demonetised currency notes deposited in the banks till date.

Prime Minister Modi in his address to the nation on November 8 gave a “solemn commitment” to people that demonetised notes could be deposited at specified RBI counters till March 31 this year, said Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

“It has been reported that the RBI is now refusing to accept specified bank notes unless the depositor was outside India between November 8 and December 30 last year.

This constitutes a major breach of trust on behalf of the government,” he charged, adding, “This will hurt the vulnerable section of the society, especially those who took the prime minister’s statement at face value.”

The Congress has been attacking the government over the demonetisation of high-value currency bills.

“The demonetisation policy has already inflicted tremendous hardship on the people of India and has taken a heavy toll on our economy. It was expected that the difficulties arising due to the policy would come to an end on December 30, but clearly this has not been the case,” Patel said.