This question was raised by Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant after several people lost their lives in the aftermath of Modi government’s demonetisation drive.
Opposition parties questioned the manner in which Modi government has gone ahead with the initiative of demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes thereby causing huge inconvenience to citizens. Congress party attacked the government for taking this decision in haste which created chaos as people are making queues outside banks to deposit and replace old currency notes. Already five people have lost their lives after the government had surprised the nation by scrapping notes of higher denomination. Samajwadi Party had urged the government to roll back the demonetisation decision. Sachin Sawant, Congress spokesperson slammed the government and said that it is anti-poor as they have to stand in line for the entire day for depositing their hard earned money.
He said, “The Modi government is responsible for the death of five people across the nation after it had declared currency notes of higher denomination as invalid. People residing in rural and urban areas are facing huge hardships on account of the government’s flawed policy. The Modi government has taken the country into a state of economic emergency. Even hospitals are refusing to admit patients and stopped accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. Some weddings have either been cancelled or postponed due to shortage of funds.”
“People had expected that Modi government will bring back black money stashed abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank account. However people have to stand in queues for the entire day to deposit their hard earned money. Citizens are undergoing severe problems as ATMs are unable to dispense money. The condition of farmers is even worse as they are unable to sell their produce to traders as they are facing cash crunch,” he added.
Vishwanath Vartak a 73 year old man died while standing in queue outside a branch of State Bank of India in Navghar area of Mulund (East) for exchanging old notes. Some people who also were in queue rushed Vartak to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead prior to admission. The body has been sent for post-mortem. According to initial reports, Vartak died of a heart attack, police said.
In Kerala a 48 year old man who had come to exchange notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 died after he fell from second floor of the building. The incident happened at Thalassery Narnagapparambu SBT bank. The deceased has been identified as Pinarayi native Unnikrishnan (48). Meanwhile Narayana a native of Kumarapurm in Alappuzha district died while he was standing in queue at Harippad Danappadi SBT branch.
A 40-year-old washerwoman died allegedly due to shock after learning that banks will reject denominations of Rs 1000. Tirtharaji came to know about centre’s demonetisation move only when she reached the bank. The incident took place at Captainganj tehsil of Kushinagar district in UP.
Pictures of the woman’s body lying on ground along with two Rs 1,000 denomination notes and a pass book went viral on social media. On the other hand, a 55 year old woman committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Sanagapuram village in Mabbubabad district, Telangana after learning that Rs 54.40 lakh stored in denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 has no value after demonetisation of those currency notes.
