Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday credited his government’s demonetisation decision for bringing down prices of houses and making them affordable for the aspiring youth.
He also said that if the previous governments had to do the work that he had done so far, they would have needed “25 more years” for it.
The prime minister made the remarks while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the extension of the new terminal at Surat airport in Gujarat.
“I was asked what has been the benefit of note ban decision. You should ask it to the youth, who could buy residential homes at affordable rates after the decision. Black money used to be parked in real estate sector, but with decisions like note ban and RERA, we put a check to it,” Modi said.
This comes just a day after reports emerged that two independent members of the National Statistical Commission, PC Mohanan and JV Meenakshi, have resigned over disagreements with the government.
When asked if the government’s failure to release the National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) employment survey for 2017-18 was a factor, Mohanan told Huffpost India, “It was one of the reasons.”
The report, the first by NSSO in this government, was expected to reflect job losses in the wake of demonetisation, according to The Indian Express.
While the government continues to hail its note-ban decision, it has come under severe scrutiny. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) published a report this month, saying almost 11 million Indians lost their jobs during 2018.
Mahesh Vyas, the managing director of CMIE, told Huffpost India that the rise in the numbers of the unemployed, which began in December 2017 and continued a year later, is attributable to the two “major shocks” the Indian economy suffered during the Modi government’s tenure: demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has also been critical of Centre’s demonetisation decision. He said he has seen studies which reaffirm that banning of high value currency notes in late 2016 impacted India’s growth significantly.
(With PTI inputs)