 "<b>Anil Bokil:</b> The man who got Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes scrapped?")
Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise announcement scrapping high-denomination currency notes, a YouTube video surfaced attributing inspiration for the idea to one Anil Bokil. This and some messages circulated on WhatsApp have seemingly propelled the mechanical engineer turned financial theorist, an unknown man from Pune, into the public eye.
While there has been no official acknowledgement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Bokil has not been shying away from talking on the subject. Originally from Latur, the founder of NGO Arthakranti has given many speeches calling for demonitisation over the years, and has presented the idea to personalities including former president Pratibha Patil, yoga exponent Baba Ramdev and politician Subramanian Swamy. Ramdev even published the suggestions in his magazine.
He met Modi when he was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha election in 2013. An allotted 15-minute presentation turned into a 90-minute discussion as Modi wanted to know more, says Amod Phalke, an Arthakranti spokesperson. Bokil is said to have had little respite from live television interviews and radio chats since the demonitisation plan, and could not be reached over the telephone.
Removing high-denomination notes from circulation was one aspect of a five-point plan promoted by Bokil. Before becoming an activist, he held jobs in the public sector, private companies and government organisations.
He later started his business of manufacturing import-substitute components.
In 1995, during the initial years of the Indian economy opening up, he observed that less-educated, yet skilled factory workers were losing jobs or struggling to make ends meet. Banks would refuse to give them loans as they had no credit history. Bokil rounded up 78 such workers and helped them enter the financial system, which allowed them to set up workshops. In the process, he developed a curiosity about macroeconomics.
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“He did not have an academic background, but he began innocent studies. He wondered why everyone does not have access to banks, why they cannot borrow from banks, why capital is costly,” says Phalke. He sought answers from chartered accountants, tax authorities, industrialists, and salaried people. By 1999, he came up with the Arthakranti strategy, and invited people to help him propagate it.
Bokil first suggests scrapping of the taxation policy, which is a “proven failure”, retaining only the import duty. Next, he says a single “bank transaction tax” should be deducted at the time of crediting and used to pay the central government, the state, the municipal corporation, and the bank carrying out the deduction. Thirdly, cash transactions will not have taxes.
Most countries have more money in the banking system than the printed currency, he notes in speeches available online, but this is not the case with India. He proposes demonitising high-denomination currency upward of Rs 50 to reduce hoarding and make money available as a medium that “everyone can use, but no one can possess”. Further, to limit cash transactions, he says the government should offer legal protection only up to a certain level.
The government’s big move is not entirely in keeping with these suggestions but Bokil and his team welcome it. Where the suggestion calls for a ban on all high-denomination notes, the government has also decided to bring in new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. Bokil told news reporters this could be a temporary measure and may be needed to give some relief to people. As for the speed of implemention, Arthakranti had not proposed an overnight change. “It was not too different from our transition plan but we would be more flexible and give more room,” says Phalke.
Bokil is said to be hoping that more points from his plan will be implemented going forward.