- Wednesday, March 05, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The Supreme Court of India’s verdict on Monday (2) upholding the Narendra Modi government’s 2016 demonetisation exercise evoked mixed reactions from traders in the western state of Gujarat with some still bitter about the experience while a handful said the move was necessary for curbing black money and fake currencies.
The Supreme Court in a 4:1 majority verdict upheld the government’s 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes, saying the decision-making process was not flawed.
Traders from Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara recalled how their businesses which mainly run on cash came to a standstill for more than a month due to demonetisation.
They recalled the chaos and hardship as the people waited in long queues outside banks to exchange the scrapped notes.
“Our business runs on cash, and those doing business with us approached us with cash. As we were not accepting cash, our business came to a standstill (after the demonetisation decision). We waited in queues every day to exchange old notes, which severely affected our business. We faced a lot of difficulties,” recalled Manish Shah, a Surat-based textile merchant.
Automobile garage owner from Surat, Siddiqui Wasim, said customers used to request him to repair their vehicles with old currency notes as they had no other option, but he too was helpless.
“We suffered great hardships for around a month. Two persons working in the garage used to wait in long queues outside banks to exchange the banned banknotes. We couldn’t procure material for the garage as we are suddenly strapped of cash. We somehow managed with some cash given to us by well-wishers,” he remembered.
Nimesh Acharya, a businessman from Vadodara, reminisced difficulties the people from various walks of life faced due to the noteban. “People faced difficulties while withdrawing money from ATMs. There were long queues outside banks. As a businessman, I faced trouble as I had to pay in advance to suppliers for goods,” Acharya said.
Vadodara-based social worker Atul Gamechi said the sudden decision to ban the high-value notes had caught the country by surprise. He said the noteban should have been announced at least a month in advance.
Former president of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Shailesh Patwari, however, said the demonetisation was a right move in the interest of the nation which helped curbing black money, terror funding, and also checked the flow of fake currencies in markets.
“This decision was taken with a right intention. It made terror funding difficult. Fake notes were printed from Pakistan and circulated, but demonetisation move curbed the flow of such currencies. The move also spurned digital transactions,” he said.
(PTI)
