Updated: November 8, 2020 2:07:07 pm
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday, October 24, 2020 (PTI).
The demonetization led to better tax compliance and a big push toward the digital economy, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday on the fourth anniversary of the controversial policy announcement, even as Congress claimed the measure was intended to aim to help some of his “capitalist cronies”. friends”.
Underlining the merits of demonetization, in a series of tweets, Sitharaman said: “To fulfill its promise to rid India of corruption, the Modi government implemented demonetization 4 years ago on this day, today. The move that was an unprecedented attack on Black Money also led to better tax compliance and a huge boost to the digital economy. “
Sitharaman said Rs 900 million of undisclosed income was seized in the first four months after the demonization. And in the last three years, assets worth Rs 3,950 crore were seized. While surveys conducted after demonetization led to the discovery of undisclosed income worth several crore, Operation Clean Money helped formalize the economy, he added.
“Demonetization not only brought transparency and broadened the tax base, it also curbed counterfeit currency and increased circulation,” Sitharaman said in another tweet.
Demonetization not only brought transparency and broadened the tax base, it also curbed counterfeiting and increased circulation. #DeMoliendoCorrupción pic.twitter.com/xcsUmkvTOM
– NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) November 8, 2020
Meanwhile, the congressional kick started a #SpeakUpAgainstDeMoDisaster social media campaign in which party deputy Rahul Gandhi claimed that the main goal of demonetization was to forego loans from large defaulters. The party also claimed that the measure resulted in a decline in the GDP growth rate of 2.2 percent and employment by 3 percent.
In a video, Gandhi said the question was how the Bangladeshi economy “outperformed” the Indian economy, as there was a time when India used to be one of the world’s top performing economies.
Gandhi said the question is how the Bangladeshi economy “outperformed” the Indian economy, as there was a time when India used to be one of the highest performing economies in the world.
“The government says the reason is COVID but if that is the reason, there is COVID in Bangladesh and other parts of the world as well. The reason is not COVID, the reason is ‘Notebandi’ and GST, ”Gandhi said.
“Four years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an assault on the Indian economy. It injured farmers, workers and small merchants. Manmohan Singh ji said that the economy will lose two percent and that is what we saw, ”Gandhi said.
नोटबंदी PM की सोची समझी चाल थी ताकि आम जनता के पैसे से ‘मोदी-मित्र’ पूँजीपतियों का लाखों करोड़ रुपय क़र्ज़ माफ़ किया जा सके।
ग़लतफ़हमी में मत रहिए- ग़लती हुई नहीं, जानबूझकर की गयी थी।
इस राष्ट्रीय त्रासदी के चार साल पर आप भी अपनी आवाज़ बुलंद कीजिए। #SpeakUpAgainstDeMoDisaster pic.twitter.com/WIcAqXWBqA
– Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 8, 2020
The former head of Congress said Prime Minister Modi’s claim that it was a fight against black money “was a lie.” “The attack was against you, Modi wanted to take your money and give it to his 2-3 crony capitalist friends. You were in ranks, not his crony capitalist friends. You put your money in the banks and Prime Minister Modi gave that money to his friends and gave them a 3.50 billion rupee loan exemption, ”Gandhi alleged.
In 2016, the government led by Narendra Modi removed the legal status of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, drawing severe criticism from the Opposition, who said the move brought down the country’s economy.
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