Readers' comments: 'Everyone who has been inconvenienced by demonetisation should be compensated'

Money move

The economist has reached a hasty conclusion on the impact of demonetisation (Interview: Demonetisation is a large shock to the Indian economy – with little impact on black money”).

This is just part one. There are many more initiatives to come. There are likely to be no high-value notes in the future, just small denomination coins of up to a 100 for day-to-day use. People will be forced to use banks for money deals and property prices will be adjusted to market rates. High denominations are used for corruption or money-laundering – to buy jewellery, votes or property. Banning these will solve all the problems. – Srinivas Chimalamarri

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You have explained and analysed the impact of the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in very simple terms. If about Rs 10 lakh crore comes to the banks and Rs 5 lakh crore is put back into circulation, the remaining amount will stay with banks as deposit. At an interest rate of 4%, banks will have to pay Rs 20 000 crore on it for one year. A part of this will be recovered by them by way of interest on investments with RBI in reserves. The rest will have to go from the earnings of the banks. As there will be no takers of bank credits, speculative investment will be done by banks and as rightly said, this will multiply the risky assets of the bank. – Manoranjan Das

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Cash in itself not black. Cash is notes or coins that are underwritten by the RBI and by extension by the government. All cash has been issued by RBI under authourisation of the government, hence its all legal tender.

Their denial to honour or exchange cash is a clear violation of our right to life. No law makes it compulsory for me to hold a bank account, beither does it place a limit on how much cash can I hold.

Millions of poor people in our country have gone by this maxim and hence have ended up holding small amounts of cash (Rs 10,000 is small by any standards). By wiping out 80% of this – since only Rs 2,000 of this can be exchanged – we have suddenly thrown a large number of people deep into the throes of poverty.

Other than the devastating long-term effects, the short-term consequences are a violation of the right to life. The government is duty-bound to honour or exchange cash at a place of our liking. Additionally, there is no constitutional basis for the limiting of cash withdrawal or exchange. This can only come of for questioning in case non filing or incorrect filing and payment of taxes.

As such, the entire exercise is patently illegal and unconstitutional. It has simply put, no basis in law. While I explore legal options, I would request the editors to explore this line of thought.

More than 50 people have died in this “minor inconvenience” business and from reports it is clear that the logistics of this exercise don’t add up, so we are looking at another six months of such inconveniences. This exercise should end immediately, and every person who has been inconvenienced has to be compensated for it.

It is imperative that a large number of citizens join in and petition the courts for relief from this ill-informed and deadly move. – Ahmer S

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Right from day one I have not been convinced that the move has been taken in the interest of the country’s ordinary people. I could not guess what could be the reason for such a drastic step, but maybe it is revenge for denying ”achhe din” to BJP all these years. – Ramkaykiran

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In the 2010 documentary Inside Job, Summers is presented as one of the key figures behind the late-2000s financial crisis
(“‘The costs exceed the benefits’: US economist Larry Summers on India’s demonetisation move”). Charles Ferguson points out the economist’s role in what he characterises as the deregulation of many domains of the financial sector. – Shashikant Puri

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I am a Canadian citizen of Indian origin and visit India almost every year. This year, when I arrive at Indian airport, I wonder how I’ll reach my rented apartment! I do not have Rs 100 notes for the taxi. And what will happen when I need to pay the rent?

I am old and do not have the strength to line up for hours to get money from the ATM. Prime Minister Modi should have thought of the difficulties that people like me will have. – Dinker Vyass

Sad note

M Balamuralikrishna’s demise has left a deep void in the Carnatic music world
(“Carnatic legend M Balamuralikrishna dead at 86”). While he shall be remembered not just for his Carnatic renditions but also for his famous appearance in the Mile Soor Mera Tumhara, this former Asthana Vidwana of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams was also a guru of Prince Rama Varma. – KB Dessai

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May his soul rest in peace. He spent two days with us in Hubli-Dharwad when he received Pt Mallikarjun Mansur National Award for Lifetime Achievement. – Rajshekhar Mansur

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This is a huge loss. May his soul rest in peace. – Subrata Chowdhury

Railway tragedy

I wish you had also pointed out the wages of these railway workers
(“India’s rail safety rests on the shoulders of 200,000 trackmen with 15 kilos of gear on their backs”). Where do they stand in the hierarchy, what do we pay for their work, and how do we compensate when they die at work? These are the issues that are always ignored. As is, of course, any concern for their safety at work. – CM Naim

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Lack of monitoring by the responsible authority led to the derailment of the Indore-Patna Express, resulting in the loss of many lives. Severe action needs to be taken against those responsible, all across the hierarchy. – RK Srivastava

One for all?

Flavia Agnes’ response to Surjit Bhalla’s comments in the Indian Express seems almost entirely a straw-man (“Creating a paper tiger of a Uniform Civil Code will not be of any use: Flavia Agnes”). Somehow the writer has conflated the implementation of already existing laws with the actual passing of laws.

The problems of dowry, child marriage among Hindus has nothing to do with the legality of such activities, but the same cannot be said of triple talaq. Of course, passing of the Uniform Civil Code by itself will not solve all of the problems that plague women and minorities in India, but neither will slowly and laboriously reforming the existing personal laws. In fact one could argue that a uniformity in personal laws would make implementation simpler and easier. Given the choice between Uniform Civil Code and continuing to individually reform personal laws, the former is a simpler and the more productive proposition given it’s ultimate inevitability. Something even the liberals opposed to it must recognize.

And despite what the writer seems to believe, it’s not just urban upper class Hindu men like Surjit Bhalla, Ramchandra Guha or Girish Shahane, whom the article mentions, who support this line of reasoning. Although even if that were the case, how that would discredit the argument for UCC is dubious, to say the least. – Punyesh Kumar

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People of all faith are equal in this country and giving special laws and power to some is unjust for others! One country, one law is what we need. – Aditya Jain

End of reason

Move over Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington has returned.
(“Preparing for the Trump era: What India’s Modi years can teach the US”). There will be no liberal democracy at the end of history. Instead, parochial base instincts and a clash of civilisations seems to be imminent. The end of the Cold War signalled an end to ideological conflict. Without grand political ideology, we tend to resort to language, religion, and tribe as the natural order. – Vivan Eyben

Bangladesh, which inherited the most secular society in the subcontinent, has gradually turned into a society where minorities are being cleansed by non-state Islam-o-fascists in a systematic manner. Though scores of liberal and secular authors, artists, intellectuals and atheists have laid down their lives defending secularism in Bangladesh, shockingly, the Bangladesh State remains a spectator to this pogrom of minorities. All those who love democracy and secularism must raise strong voice against the cleansing of minorities in Bangladesh. – Shamsul Islam

Going back

Everyone seems to have forgotten that there was a civilisation much older than the Greek civilisation, from which the Greeks got much of their knowledge of art and architecture
(“What explains the backlash to the idea that Greek art inspired China’s Terracotta Army”) That is the Egyptian civilisation. The Greek had nothing of their civilisation when the Egyptians built heir pyramids and temples in Karnak and Abu Simbel. The tomb paintings of Egyptians rival the 21st-century art in quality and finish. Europeans conveniently forget this civilisation and even do not teach about Egyptian civilisation in schools. – Satish Rao