As the Dust Settles

I am writing this as an impartial observer, without any political leaning of any kind. As the dust settles on the "demonetisation" and some realities seem to sink in, it may be a good time to look at the pluses and minuses so far- this may change due to subsequent actions of various stakeholders.

The shock value was delivered impeccably- an achievement in itself.

The initial reactions indicated that broadly, people supported the decision, assuming all would be back to normal in a few weeks.

It is not clear why the government chose to change the size of the notes, requiring recalibration of all ATMs. This delayed the functioning of ATMs at full capacity.

The cash supply has not yet returned to normal, at least not in the ATMs. This is from personal experience in at least three cities that I travelled to in the past week.

Possibility of corruption in RBI, banks and so on seems to have been overlooked. This has siphoned off a lot of money that could have reached the common man, giving the government a  bad name.

Now, a question. Could there have been a better way to catch the guys with black money (not just in cash, but real estate and so on)? Were they explored?

People have certainly learnt how to stand in a queue, as a by-product, and maybe some nationalism has come in where it was not explicit.

All told, it was a great disruption in many lives. I hope it will not affect the economy too badly, particularly the daily wage workers.


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