Two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the nation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed on Thursday that not a single incident of unrest was reported post demonetisation.
However, cases of people dying while waiting in bank and ATM lines for money, breaking into banks, and robbing the ATM cash vans had been reported throughout last month.
Jaitley painted a rosy picture of the effects of demonetisation, before the 50 days’ remonetisation process is supposed to conclude.
The effects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 8 November announcement are now visible, Jaitley believes. He also said that the major portion of unaccounted money has entered the banking system.
He also said that sectors like insurance have shown promise with 213 percent growth. Jaitley also compared last year’s growth in direct tax collections, 8.3 percent, with this year’s direct tax collection, 14.4 percent.
The total income tax collection, post demonetisation, has shown a growth rate of 13.6 percent, he said.
The government wants the paper currency to shrink, he said, while pointing out “the large increase of the online users”.
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
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