‘Demonetisation Has Reduced Terror Activities’: FM Arun Jaitley

Arun Jaitley said that there was a decline in insurgent and terror activities in states like J&K and Chhattisgarh.

File photo of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. 

(Photo: PTI)

Demonetisation has resulted in a sharp reduction of insurgent and terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, where stone throwers have been inactive in the last 8-10 months, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

He made the remarks while refuting the impression that initiatives like Swachh Bharat, GST and demonetisation have not resulted in any changes on the ground.

The finance minister said that following the note-ban, there has been a sharp reduction in insurgent and terror activities in states like Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh.

Also Read: What’s the Verdict on Demonetisation Data? Q&A With Raghav Bahl

Terror funding itself has squeezed, Jaitley said in a keynote address via video conference to the Berkeley India Conference on 7 October. This comes ahead of his visit to the US to interact with corporate heads and attend the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC.

You are having terrorist incidents (now), but the fact that you were finding 5,000-10,000 stone throwers being provided with money by the terrorist organisations, why is it that in the last 8-10 months it has not happened?

In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in November 2016 announced scrapping of old notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, in a bid to clamp down on black money, fake currency, terror funding and corruption.

Also Read: Dear PM Modi, Demonetisation Worked But Could Have Spared the Poor