Niti Aayog meeting: Naidu slams PM Modi’s demonetisation move

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 17

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who as part of the BJP-led NDA once headed a committee to address the demonetisation issue, on Sunday said “adequate care was not taken” in its rolling out and implementation, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi big fiscal move continued to put people to hardship “till date”.

Speaking at a Niti Aayog meeting, where he came face to face with Prime Minister Modi for the first time after walking out of the alliance some weeks back, Naidu said: “We support the ideology of the policy. However, adequate care was not taken in rolling out and managing its implementation. Till date, people are put to hardship for receiving their own funds affecting small businesses and workers”.

As he raised state-related issues like the bifurcation-related Special Category Status, Polavaram project, revenue deficit, etc., Naidu also called as “ill-drafted’ provisions of the controversial Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance ( FRDI) Bill.

“Ill-drafted provisions of the FRDI Bill like conversion of deposits of individual investors into equity have led to widespread fear among public. There is a severe cash crunch in the country, with no cash available in ATMs or banks for farming operations, to disburse pensions or for daily other needs,” he said.

Notably, soon after demonetisation on November 8, 2016, the Centre constituted a committee of Chief Ministers headed by Naidu to promote digital payment systems and prepare a roadmap in this regard. The move was also seen as a political strategy by the Centre to diffuse any possible differences with the states on the plan and the then proposed GST Law.