‘Scrap ₹500 notes’: Why Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu wants ₹200 to be the highest denomination of Indian currency
N Chandrababu Naidu urged India to scrap high-value currency notes and retain ₹100 and ₹200 notes, arguing that digital transactions could help tackle corruption. His call came as opposition leaders questioned results of demonetisation, introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a decade ago.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently advocated for the elimination of high-value currency notes in India. He proposed retaining only ₹100 and ₹200 denomination notes, while scrapping ₹500, ₹1,000 and ₹2,000 notes. Mr. Naidu made this demand in his digital currency report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He argued that curbing high-value cash and promoting digital transactions can help tackle corruption.
Naidu's proposal follows the 10th anniversary of demonetisation, announced by Prime Minister Modi a day earlier. The government announced that high-value currency notes of ₹500 and ₹1,000 would no longer be legal tender. The move aimed to flush out black money, eliminate fake Indian currency notes, curb financing of terrorism and left-wing extremism, bring the informal economy into the formal sector, expand the tax base and employment, and promote digital payments to make India a less-cash economy.
However, critics like Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh have criticized demonetisation as a disaster that devastated the economy and destroyed the polity. Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray questioned the achievements of demonetisation after 10 years, asking what the country had gained from the move and whether its stated objectives had been fulfilled.
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