BJP appeals to nation to embrace demonetisation, calls for patience

New Delhi [India], Nov. 13 (ANI): Amid incidents of violence and anger across the nation following the Prime Minister's initiative of demonetization, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday appealed to the nation to be patient, as it would take a while for the situation to return to normalcy. BJP leader Nalin Kohli told ANI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had clearly indicated in his announcement that the process would cause inconvenience to the masses and only those who were guilty of hoarding or getting involved with black money would suffer. "Our appeal would be that it takes a little time for system to come back to normalcy, because 500 and 1000 Rupee notes are no longer in circulation. The banks are working over time, the finance ministry is working to keep a tab on it," Kohli said. "We appeal to the people, not to worry because no matter, who the person is, an honest person, whether it a housewife, whether it is a poor farmer, or someone in the rural areas, urban areas, they don't have to worry. Their money will be changed. However, those who, have heaps of black money, they are the ones who are going to definitely suffer," he added. Justifying the Centre's resolute stand on not postponing the deadline for using the old 500 and 1000 Rupee notes, the BJP leader further said if the Government extended the deadline, then those who are truly guilty, will try to put the black money into the banking structure to defeat the scheme. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi made an emotional appeal to the nation to cooperate with his government in adjusting to the process of demonetization and asserted that he has more ideas up his sleeve to counter corruption. The Prime Minister, who was speaking today for the first time on demonetisation after announcing the decision on November 8, also used the occasion to hit back at those questioning his bold and effective step to combat corruption and menace of black money. "This is an important step towards eradicating corruption and black money but some people are lost in their own world. If any money that was looted in India and has left Indian shores, it is our duty to find out about it," he said. Earlier, Union Finance Minster Arun Jaitley assured that the Finance Ministry is monitoring the currency replacement constantly and added that it would take two to three weeks approximately to recalibrate 2 lakh ATMs across the country. "When the government decided to replace 500 and 1000 notes, there were expectations that in couple of days, people would queue up to replace significant part, 86 per cent. It is a massive operation. There are challenges in execution. People are turning up in large numbers, so they will keep coming in the next few days. The government requests them that the deposit time is till December 30," he said. The government, Jaitley said, has directed the Bank officials on helping senior citizens in the smooth exchange of notes. Listing out facts in which the banks are undertaking currency exchange, Jaitley said that Rs. 7,868 crore have been deposited in the SBI. The bank exchanged notes of 58 lakh people. 22 lakh people operated at ATMs, 33 lakh have withdrawn from SBI, which handles 20-25 per cent of total banking. Till 12.15 p.m. today the bank conducted 2.28 crore transactions. He said five modes of transactions are involved in banks, cash deposit, withdrawal from cash, cash to cash exchange, ATM cash withdrawal and cash deposit machines being used. Jaitley also appealed to the business community to avoid using cash and start using digital payment gateways. There are approximately two lakh ATMs across the country. Many ATMs, which were reopened after the Prime Minister Modi's demonetisation decision, were forced to shut down after they ran out of cash. (ANI)