Demonetisation achieved nothing, says Pondicherry CM

Puducherry: Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said that the country achieved nothing out of demonetisation and in fact suffered economic development by 1.4 per cent.

The comments came after Reserve Bank of India revealed in its annual report that 99 per cent of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore scrapped currency notes, came back into the system after demonetisation.

The Chief Minister highlighted that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had predicted a fall in growth due to the note ban announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year.

"The GDP figures proved that the former prime minister's forecast that demonetisation would slow down economic growth was correct. The government had announced that one per cent of the demonetised notes that is Rs 16,000 crore, which is yet to come back also substantiate that the Congress leaders were right", he added.

He also blamed the Haryana government for its failure in preventing the violence happened in Dera and the Central government for keeping silence on the death of Children in Ghorakpur hospital.

Regarding beach nourishment and port development project, the Chief Minister said that the dredging work was entrusted to the Dredging Corporation of India on direction from the Lt Governor and the government is yet to pay any money and hence, the charges of corruption is wrong.

"The payment will be made only after completion of the work. The sand accumulated again and the MARG port was entrusted to dredge the estuary to ensure the smooth sailing of the fishing boats. The support of the Madras Port was also sought", he said.

The Chief Minister said that 20 industrial units had sought permission to construct industrial sheds here after announcing the new industrial policy. More IT industries will come forward to set up units once, the SEZ come up in Puducherry, he added.