The Botched Legacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Demonetisation was aimed at leaving a legacy for history to judge PM Modi as a doer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the BJP Parivartan Rally in Kanpur on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

It has been a month-and-a-half since the Prime Minister issued his farman of demonetisation on that fateful day of 8 November 2016.

Modi was hailed as a bold and decisive leader till a couple of days after the announcement when the entire nation was still trying to unravel the implications of the move. Many were euphoric as they felt that black money hoarders would find it difficult to evade the long arm of the law.

They were willing to ignore the difficulties that they were undergoing by standing in long queues for the vicarious pleasure of seeing black money hoarders go behind bars.

Also Read: Photo of Retired Soldier Crying in a Bank Queue Goes Viral

However, none of that seems to have happened. The difficulties continue, with people spending long hours in queues only to go back without any cash or with only a fraction of cash which is not adequate to meet their daily needs.

On the other hand, there are recoveries of large amounts of crisp new currency notes from rich people. At last count, such recoveries totalled about 400 crores.

People have started asking questions and rightly so, as to how ATMs and banks are running dry while those with jugaad are managing to get so much cash. Why is it that they have to beg the bank walas to withdraw their own money?

Also Read: Note Ban has Rendered This ‘Gol Gappa’ Vendor ‘Cashless’

Desperations are palpable everywhere, at ATMs which do not have money, at shops which do not have change for the Rs 2,000 note, in the wallet of a common man who doesn’t have enough change to buy even a bottle of water.

The bank employees, whom I have never seen flustered, are desperately trying to convince customers about the non-availability of cash. It is an ungainly sight to see matured adults breaking down bitterly on camera after returning empty-handed from ATMs and banks.

The cruelest was the sight of an old man standing in a queue to withdraw some money in order to cremate the body of his wife that was lying at home. Farmers are desperate because they do not have cash to pay for labour and buy fertiliser.

With no guarantee of getting even a fraction of the money they require, many of them cannot afford to go to an ATM in a small town located a few miles away on a daily basis.

The goal posts change every day. One day you can exchange Rs 2,000, the next day it is Rs 4,500, the very next day it is back to Rs 2,000 and on the fourth day the exchange cannot be done at all.

One day, the Rs 500 note can be used at hospitals, the next day you can use them only at government hospitals. The list of such farmans is endless.

The objectives of the demonetisation exercise are being redefined every day. Initially, it was to curb black money, later it was to root out fake currency and hence control terror financing. With those goals still a distant dream, the objective now is to take the country towards becoming a cashless economy.

Pray, do we have the adequate infrastructure in place to achieve this latest objective?

Isn’t the idea 15 years, if not 50 years, too early?

My hunch is that the policy never had anything to do with the manifest objectives. The latent objective was always aimed at projecting a larger-than-life image of Modi. It was aimed at leaving a legacy for history to judge him as a doer. He is a doer alright, but a doer who has gone horribly wrong with a decision.

In his heart, Modi probably knows that a wrong decision has been imposed, one that has put the public in much misery. This is apparent from his body language, the dramatic public crying at Goa and elsewhere, and the bluster he resorts to in election rallies.

His own lack of conviction and inability to give a sound reasoning for the decision may have been reflected in his deafening silence in the Parliament and the aggressive disruption his party resorted to.

Also Read: Denied Money for Medical Treatment, 80-Yr-Old Farmer Dies in Bank

There is no way back from the course the country has taken. We know that the decision cannot be undone now. But someone has to face the nation and have the moral courage to accept that the decision was wrong and they are sorry for this. They need to say that they need everyone to cooperate in order to help the nation pass this critical test.

The common man is suffering in silence, anger simmering beneath and calm smile pasted on for show. But the common man also doesn’t forget easily.

Also Read: Neither Fish nor Cash: A Day in the Life of a Demonetised Bengali

Modi rode to power on a wave of goodwill and hope. He was expected to live up to his promise of “sabka vikas sabka saath”. This, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have happened.

It appears that Modi will go down in history for this audacious but botched legacy of demonetisation.

(The writer retired from the BSF as an additional director-general. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)