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Demonetisation Anniversary: Arun Jaitley Says Confiscation Of Currency Was Not An Objective

Jaitley said that getting currency into the formal economy and making the holders pay tax was the broader objective of demonetisation.
Arun Jaitley in a file photo.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Arun Jaitley in a file photo.

On the second anniversary of demonetisation on Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called it a "key step" in a chain of important decisions taken by the government to formalise the economy.

In a Facebook post titled 'Impact of Demonetisation', Jaitley said in the year 2017-18, the tax returns filed reached Rs 6.86 crore. In May, 2014 when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was elected, the total number of the filers of income tax returns was 3.8 crore, he added.

Jaitley also termed the criticism that almost the entire cash money got deposited in the banks post demonetisation as "ill-informed". He said confiscation of currency was not an objective of demonetisation.

Getting it into the formal economy and making the holders pay tax was the broader objective, the Union minister added.

Read the entire post here:

The government had on 8 November, 2016 announced ban on old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to curb black money in the system.

Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on 8 November, 2016, 99.3% or notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore have returned to the banking system, according to PTI.

This means, just Rs 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system.

Meanwhile, the Opposition continued to attack the government's demonetisation decision on its second anniversary.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said that the "scars and wounds" that demonetisation caused are getting more visible with time and the decision's second anniversary is a day to remember how "economic misadventures" can roil the nation, reported PTI.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that demonetisation was a "disaster" for the country. She tweeted:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also questioned the rationale behind the note ban move and termed it as "a self inflicted deep wound" on the Indian economy.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.