Demonetisation of Indian character

A lot of words have been spoken and written about demonetization. I am neither an economically literate person to say anything new- for or against- nor am I a crystal gazer to predict what this whole process would mean to India in the future. The only thing that anyone, literate or non-literate can foresee is that in any process involving men and money, there will be some gain and some pain but which side the balance will show up and which side down, only time will tell.

But one thing very few have commented upon and even if they did, that was not heard in the din of arguments in favour of or against demonetization. The most devastating truth is the whole exercise has shown to the world all over that India is corrupt from head to foot, from man to man, from woman to woman and therefore freezing the higher denomination notes had to be decisive and final to usher in  ‘Swatchh Bharat’. Almost every Indian (barring those who were money hoarders) had to rush to the bank to deposit their 500 and 1000 rupee notes which they had kept aside for an emergency. I had always kept 10,000/- in a small wallet with instructions to my family that in case of an emergency and that too of a fatal kind, they should have easy access to immediate expenditure. My father had done it and so by experience, I followed it for an unpredictable and unforeseen contingency. This 10,000 I had

 kept in ten 1000/ notes. But on the 9^th like many others, some of whom looked distinctly embarrassed, I also had to stand in the queue to deposit my tiny hoard as though I was a black money holder. I felt a sense of shame that everyone was looking askance at me as to why in my grey years, I had to hoard! Every day the government’s unabashed announcement about retrieving lakhs of crores of black money -of which a major portion has been the contribution of small mini hoarders like me- has shown that we Indians are all hoarders- big and small. With one word –demonetisation- the government had painted all Indians black, all their money black. When the banks ran dry of cash and we could not take our own money except in a trickle, it dawned on us that there was hardly any white money we can claim as our own. On top of it, one felt mean and selfish, begging the bankers to give me more of my own money. The government by its well intentioned strategy to catch the black money hoarder red-handed had resorted to psychological intimidation of making everyone seem a criminal for one reason or the other. As for the genuine hoarders- whose cash hoarding was nothing in comparison with their acquiring of gold, real estates and foreign deposits, -they were the least bothered as they could whiten their black currency by many innovative schemes the government was announcing every day. 60% yours, 40% ours became an easy way to make black white. The Indian jugaad was at work with black money distributed in Jan Dhan funds with the understanding :  “Come March, you get 10 or 20% when you hand the money which I now deposit in your account,  back to me.” So the poor got corrupted as the  corrupt rich bribed them with such a tempting offer. The ordinary aam admi joined  the big league by accepting the black money, which by the innovative demonetization alchemy was turned to white. So demonetization has made people financially and corruptly inclusive. The one who laid bare his account to the blackmoney hoarder became equally corrupt. Neither the giver nor the receiver was incorrupt. Is demonetisation rooting out or rooting up corruption? With one fiat declaring all 500/ and 1000/ no longer legally tender, the government has truly brought the PMJDY(PradhanMantri Jan DhanYojana ) as India’s National Mission for Financially Inclusive Corruption.

On top of all this comes the PM’s advice to Jan Dhan account holders not to return the money to the black hoarders, but simply hold to it as their own. Make the black money depositors to your account run to you any number of times and beg you for the money, but don’t give it back. Is the PM wanting every  Jan Dhani(Jan Dhan account holder) to be unethical, immoral and become the new hoarder? Instead of asking the people not to let their accounts open to the Corrupt, the PM’s advice is to accept the money-illegally tendered- and hoard it.

Demonetisation has been devastating to Indian character. We are shown to be great Jugaadis capable of turning black into white and white into black. The Government has given a lot of concessions to the rich, affluent business class people and for fear of being seen as pro rich, the PM turns to the poor to become hoarders on a smaller scale as their rich brothers, granting them the license to cheat and pardoning them of all sins of accepting illegal cash.

Demonetisation has proved that “We are Indians; we are corrupt”. It is a total assassination of our moral and ethical instinct as we are exhorted to cultivate a subversive ethos out of sync with the distinctive spirit of our culture.