Curious case of demonetisation: No mention of exercise in Modi govt's 'White Paper'

New Delhi: The 'White Paper on the Indian Economy' tabled in Parliament on Thursday did not have any mention of the demonetisation, the 2016 exercise by the Narendra Modi government aimed at tackling black money, terrorism and fake currency.

The Opposition had demanded a ‘White Paper’ on demonetisation, accusing the Modi government of breaking the backbone of the Indian economy, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called it “organised loot and legalised plunder”.

The omission of the mention of demonetisation is curious for the reason that the government had defended the decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made the announcement through a televised address on 8 November, 2016 at 8 pm.

Though demonetisation does not find space in the document tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government’s White Paper was eloquent about the introduction of the GST regime, digital revolution, elimination of open defecation and Covid-19 vaccination.

While the official White Paper did not mention it, the Congress’ counter ‘Black Paper’ released hours before the tabling of the government document described the exercise as “disastrous”, claiming its economic effects continue to haunt the country to this day.

Claiming that the cost of the exercise was "severe", it said more than 15 lakh jobs were estimated to be lost in the first four months of 2017, mainly in small businesses and informal sector.

"Over a 100 people died while standing in line to change bank notes. The Modi government has still not learnt the lesson -- the scrapping of the Rs 2,000 note is yet another painful reminder," the 'Black Paper' claimed.

"None of the ever-changing goals of the exercise have been met. Black money remains and there is no evidence that demonetisation affects it. Corruption abound as the BJP's 40 per cent government in Karnataka showed. The country did not even become cashless. Cash in circulation has increased from Rs 16 lakh crore in 2016 to Rs 34 lakh crore in 2023," it said.

Quoting an RBI report, it said, the currency leakage from bank deposits to cash was as much as Rs 1.2 lakh crore. As a share of GDP, cash has increased to 12.7 per cent in 2023 from 11.6 per cent in March 2014, it added.