Yangon: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has justified demonetisation asserting that his government was not afraid of taking “big” and “tough” decisions in the interest of the country.
Modi, who was addressing the Indian diaspora in Yangon on Wednesday, said his government could take such decisions because it considers the country above politics.
Along with demonetisation announced on November 8 last year, the PM named the surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last year and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was rolled out on July 1 as the “big” decisions taken by his government.
“In the national interest, we are not afraid of taking big and tough decisions because for us, the country is above politics. Whether it be the surgical strikes, demonetisation or GST, all decisions were taken without any fear or hesitation,” he said.
Referring to the note ban, Modi said the step was taken to curb black money and that it had helped identify lakhs of people who had crores of rupees in bank accounts but never paid income tax.
He also said that registration of over two lakh companies had been cancelled in last three months as those had been found to be indulging in laundering of black money.
“To deal with corruption, we banned currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination. A handful of corrupt people were making 125 crore people pay for their misdeeds. This was not acceptable to us,” Modi said in 35-minute address.
“There used to be no clue as to from where black money was coming and where it was going,” he said.
His justification of demonetisation came against the backdrop of criticism of the decision by the Opposition.
The Congress has dubbed the note ban as a “disaster” and said it had utterly failed while the “corrupt made windfall gains”.
The PM also talked about GST, saying an “atmosphere of doing business with honesty” had been created in the country within a span of two months after its launch.
Modi said over the last three years, his government had initiated massive changes and rules were being eased to unshackle the potential of the country. “Now, the people of the country have begun believing that India can move forward. The shackles can be broken,” he said.
“We are not merely reforming India but transforming India. We are not changing India, but we are building a new India,” he said, adding 2022 was the target year to achieve this as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence.
In the context of building a new India, he talked about the pledge to rid the country of problems like terrorism, communalism and corruption. The PM also said that India believes in sharing the benefits of its development with its neighbours and also help them in the times of need.
(with inputs from PTI)
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