Questioning the rationale behind the government’s move, Chidambaram asked how demonetisation has benefited the country. “Has this stopped corruption, black money? The objective is not being served by this. Only poor people are being punished,” Chidambaram said, adding that the goal post keeps shifting. “It is no longer about black money… now they have found a new one called cashless economy,” he said, adding that to assume that India will go from 3 per cent to 100 per cent cashless, in a matter of few months, is an outlandish expectation. “It is like motherhood and apple pie. No one speaks against them, similarly no one will speak against cashless society.”
On banks being unable to provide cash to customers, Chidambaram asked whether the government made any attempts to calculate how much cash would be necessary. “What calculations did the government do to say that one can withdraw Rs 24,000 when banks don’t have enough cash to dispense? 45 crore people have been affected due to this, who will compensate them?” He also asked why District Cooperative Central Banks were kept out, adding that as a result of which farmers were suffering as there was no money to buy seeds, hire labour or purchase fertilisers.
