Kerala Governor Palanisamy Sathasivam on Thursday criticised the Centre’s demonetisation move. He called it “wildly impulsive” and said it was one of the most “devastating catastrophes” in India’s financial history. “Our rights, safeguarded by the Constitution, were thrown to the wind through a mere executive fiat,” the governor said as he read his customary policy address in the House, which is written by the state.

He said those who could make transactions avoiding the use of cash held up through the crisis, but that the poor, the lower middle class and wage earners were forced to run from “pillar to post for currency”. The governor said many farmers had to forcefully let their crops to rot in the fields since they did not have cash to carry out agricultural operations.

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“Around two hundred deaths including suicides have been reported on account of exhaustion, delayed medical assistance and sheer helplessness,” he said. The co-operative sector that caters to the needs of the poorer sections of the society, were immobilised overnight, Governor Sathasivam said, adding that it was important to figure out how long it will take for the co-operative banking system to be back on the rails.

The governor also accused the Centre of changing their slogan from combating black money to the promotion of a digital economy. “The actual quantum of demonetised currency recovered in the process has not been disclosed,” he added.

Governor Sathasivam also announced that Kerala will start maintaining a registry for sex offenders. “To ensure deterrence, my government will set up a sex offenders register, which will maintain all identification details of sex offenders. It will be the first in the country and will be kept in public domain,” he said.

The governor’s announcements come almost a week after Kerala condemned the abduction and the alleged molestation of a popular film personality.