“The demonetisation boondoggle” (December 4) clearly articulated that the Centre’s move does not seem to have a clear-headed cost benefit analysis. Apart from the numbers specified in the article and its macroeconomic perspective, if we see the effect on the ground, it becomes clear that costs significantly exceed the benefits. I was in Chennai airport. It has a pre-paid taxi counter authorised by the government that only accepts cash. Traffic police demand cash as fine. The government should have first changed its habits of collecting cash, and set an example by accepting payments through e-wallet, before preaching. The government has projected this move as one that will adversely affect the rich and benefit the poor. It is evident from the queues that only the poor who suffer. The government has promised compensation but people are fed up of promises. It is not clear how the government is going to compensate the kith and kin of those who died on account of demonetisation. It is not known how the government will compensate for the time that the citizens have lost.
Compensation in taxation will be inadequate as most of the sufferers are not in the tax bracket. The government is coming up with new policies daily, causing huge uncertainty. This is not how a government should function. It talks about ease of doing business. Now it should start talking about ease of living life. If the government wants to change the habits of people, it should adopt long-term policies that bring benefits from going cashless rather than forcing us into it and looting hard-earned money. It is ironical that I can deposit my money but not use it the way I want. This is a violation of our rights. The government is acting in an authoritarian and undemocratic manner. A driver who took me from the Delhi airport to my residence said he was compelled to take up this work after his business collapsed due to lack of cash.