Stop all cash deals at Rs 2,000, says Anil Bokil

Hyderabad: Anil Bokil, the founder of the Pune-based Arthakranti Sansthan, credited with giving the idea of demonetisation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday said transactions in cash should not exceed Rs 2,000 in a single instance. Beyond that, every transaction has to be done through banks.

He said illiterates and people in rural areas would not be affected by the proposed cap because Rs 100 notes would be in circulation. Surveys showed that the daily spend of a rural person does not exceed Rs 150.

“It will take some time for them to get used to this technology, but until then they can make transactions in cash,” Mr Bokin said at a lecture organised by
the Junior Chambers International in the city.

Limit notes at Rs 100, says Bokil
Replying to a query from the audience at a meeting organised by the Junior Chambers International on whether the new Rs 2,000 note would also be banned, Mr Bokil said Arthakranti had proposed that the currency should be limited to Rs 100 denomination notes or less.

He said demonetisation had not gone waste despite reports that 97 per cent of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 having returning to banks.

“A thorough assessment needs to be done before one can arrive at a conclusion. Further, the people have paid tax on all the white money that has come into banks. A lot of unaccounted money was paid as taxes, with demonetised notes, to local bodies. Counterfeit notes that were in circulation until November became useless,” he said.

Mr Bokil was reportedly given nine minutes to explain Arthakranti’s proposals on cashless economy to Mr Modi, when he was Gujarat Chief Minis-ter. Eventually Mr Modi heard him for two hours. He pointed out that a majority of high currency notes were not in circulation because the “haves had stacked the money in bags”.

“Only when money comes into banks in huge quantities do banks have the liberty of giving loans at lower interest rates. In foreign countries, interest rates are as low as two per cent but here home loans are at 10 per cent,” he said.

He said the benefits of government schemes were not reaching the people due to black money and corruption. “Indians are not spoilt by character, but spoilt by condition,” he said. Giving an example, he said: “Assuming an announcement is made that drinking water will not be supplied for a few days, people will store water in utensils to the possible extent. If water is supplied for 24 hours a day will anyone show the same urgency to store water?”