 "A bank employee applying ink to a customer on exchange of 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes")
Unabated queues outside automated teller machines (ATMs), feedback that its ‘note ban’ has negatively impacted small traders, farmers and those planning weddings, a rattled Narendra Modi government on Thursday announced several exceptions to provide relief to sections of the public.
The government rejected the Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee, or JPC, probe into reports that the information about ‘note ban’ was leaked before the PM announced it to the nation, but also thought it necessary to clarify there will not be a rollback to its demonetisation scheme.
Opposition parties saw in the government revising the exchange limit, first from Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 on November 14, and on Thursday reducing it to Rs 2,000 as evidence of its mismanagement. Other reliefs – to small traders, farmers and those planning weddings – have also come a day after Opposition leaders had highlighted their woes in the Rajya Sabha.
In Parliament, the day’s proceedings were washed out in both Houses. The Opposition demanded the PM be present during the discussions on the impact of demonetisation and also intervene to explain the reasons behind the decision. Government strategists said there was no such rule and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the minister concerned, will reply in both the Houses.
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They, however, claimed the PM wanted to attend proceedings if Parliament had functioned. Government strategists also claimed it was too soon to predict that the entire session would get washed out without the passage of the three goods and services tax (GST) related Bills.
However, both sides held uncompromising positions at the end of the day. The Opposition maintained it won’t let either of the Houses to run if the PM is not present, while the government asked the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad to tender an unconditional apology for comparing the 40 deaths to demonetisation to have been less than the number of Indian Army jawans that Pakistan-based terrorists killed in Uri in Jammu & Kashmir in mid-September.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed six adjournments. The day started with AIADMK members entering the well of the House to demand a resolution of Cauvery water dispute. Other Opposition parties accused them of helping the government agenda of not letting the House run. The Opposition, led by Congress, also trooped into the well to demand that the PM be present in the House. The Rajya Sabha was scheduled to take up the remainder of the discussion on demonetization.
In the Lok Sabha, the government agreed to suspend the Question Hour for a discussion on demonetisation. However, the Opposition wanted it to be held under a rule that would have entailed voting. The Speaker rejected the demand. Opposition leaders wondered why the government, which has an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha, was scared of a vote on the issue.
While Azad refused to tender any apology, the Congress leadership said the government had picked on his comments to deflect attention from the hardships that people are suffering because of demonetisation. Government strategists claimed the Opposition was frustrated at being outmanoeuvred by the PM on the issue and not allowing Parliament to run.
A stone’s throw from Parliament, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee went to the Reserve Bank of India to meet its governor and discuss the “ill-effects” of demonetisation. Earlier in the day, the two addressed a public rally at the Azadpur Mandi, the wholesale fruit and vegetable market of Delhi. They demanded rollback of ‘note ban’ within three days or it could lead to anarchy.
READ OUR FULL COVERAGE ON THE MODI GOVT'S DEMONETISATION MOVE
READ OUR FULL COVERAGE ON THE MODI GOVT'S DEMONETISATION MOVE
