The demonetisation decision of government in 2016 broke the backbone of Maoists in Chhattisgarh, leading to more number maoist arrests than ever and less number of attacks by them, claimed a report published by a right-wing think-tank.
The report compiled by Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC) based its findings on field work done in Rajnandgaon, Sukma, Bijapur and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh in July and August this year.
"The demonetisation broke the backbone of naxals in Chhattisgarh by invalidating maximum of their stored money in high currency notes," Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Director, PPRC and a Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said at the release of the report here.
The report claimed that there was a 20 per cent decline in naxal incidents, mainly because of the demonetisation, which came down from 466 in 2015 to 373 in 2017. The number of naxal arrests, during the same period, it said, increased from 512 to 796.
The report cited various media reports, articles, and government releases as sources.
Not just Chhattisgarh, but in Jammu and Kashmir also the impact of demonetisation was seen, and "there was reduction in the incidents of stone pelting, as was reported in the media", Sahasrabuddhe said.
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"But demonetisation can do only so much. There is also a problem of counterfeit currency from Pakistan and Nepal which needs to tackled," he said.
-- IANS
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