Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to de-monitize 500 and 1000 Rupee notes in a crackdown against corruption and black money, Union minister state (independent charge) for skill development and entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Wednesday stated that this step would go a long way in India's prolonged fight against terrorism as well.
"It's a known fact that we have been fighting terror and one of the main components of terror is the black money or the notes that were being printed in Pakistan or elsewhere for perpetrating terror. On the other hand it is the commitment of the government and the Prime Minister that we have to do away with black money, because this was his commitment to the people of this country when he stood for elections," Rudy told the media here.
Defending the Prime Minister from the opposition's charges that the common man was under severe pressure and inconvenience from this development, he further said that this step will bring the economy back on track and the common man will benefit from it.
"The common man will have lower prices for real estate and it will be a more transparent economy and financial system," Rudy said.
Yesterday in a surprise televised address, Prime Minister Modi said that for humanitarian reasons, for the first 72 hours, which is till midnight on 11th November, government hospitals will continue to accept five hundred and thousand rupee notes for payment.
Pharmacies in government hospitals will also accept these notes for buying medicines with doctors' prescription.
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Also till midnight on 11th November, railway ticket booking counters, ticket counters of government buses and airline ticket counters at airports will accept the old notes for purchase of tickets.
Also at Petrol, diesel and CNG gas stations authorised by public sector oil companies Consumer co-operative stores authorised by State or Central Government, Milk booths authorised by State governments, Crematoria and burial grounds.
The Reserve Bank has issued new series of notes for 500 rupees and 2,000 rupees denomination with improved features and newer sizes.
The RBI said, 2,000 rupees note, which is a first under the denomination, will be called as the 'Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series' and has a design of the low-cost mission to Mars, the Mangalayan, on the reverse. It said, the base colour of the note will be magenta.
The RBI said, the new design in the 500 rupee denomination will be in a different colour, size, theme, design and location of security features, it said.
The note, will be in a stone grey colour and the predominant theme will be Delhi's Red Fort. Both the designs of 500 rupees and 2,000 rupees, will be very friendly towards the visually-impaired by having features which make it accessible for all sections.
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