KOBE, Japan -- Hinting at more action to unearth black money, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that those holding unaccounted money will not be spared. He also added that there wasn't any 'guarantee' that no further steps would be taken after 30 December — till when people can deposit the demonetised notes.
He assured honest people that they would not face any trouble.
"I would like to announce once again that after the end of this scheme, there is no guarantee that something new will not be introduced to punish you," Modi said.
There is no guarantee that something new will not be introduced to punish people hoarding black money.
He was addressing the Indian community at a reception here.
"I make it very clear that if any unaccounted money comes up, I will check its records since the Independence. I will deploy as many people as required for this. No one will be spared. The ones who know me are intelligent people. They know it is better to offer all the black money to Ganga than try and deposit it in banks," Modi said.
He was referring to reports of the demonetised ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes flowing in Ganga river.
People who know me are intelligent. They know it is better to offer all the black money to Ganga than try and deposit it in the bank.Narendra Modi
Modi termed the demonetisation as 'Swachhata Abhiyan' and hailed the undaunting spirit of people despite their hardship following its announcement on 8 November.
"I salute my countrymen. People stood in line for hours, but accepted the decision in national interest — the way people of Japan tackled the aftermath of the 2011 disaster," he said.
"I thought long and hard about the possible difficulties and it was also important to keep it a secret. It had to be done suddenly but I never thought I will receive blessings for this," he said.
"I salute each and every Indian. Many families had weddings, health problems... yes they faced inconvenience but they accepted the decision," the PM Modi said.
Apparently referring to the opposition which has attacked the government action, Modi said a section is trying to incite people for speaking out against him but people have accepted the decision in the national interest.
"Law should be equal for everyone. People are happy about the fact that even Modi's ₹1,000 notes are not usable anymore," Modi said.
Underlining that the world is acknowledging that India is the fastest growing economy among the large global economies, he said the country is also receiving historically high FDI.
"IMF, World Bank all are saying in one voice. IMF also said that India is the shining star. World economists believe India is growing at a very fast rate...I have my own definitions (of FDI). The first definition is First Develop India and the second is the Foreign Direct Investment. India is receiving historically high rate of FDI," he said.
In the last two years, black money to the tune of ₹1.25 lakh crore have been unearthed due to various initiatives of the government, Modi added.
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