By Nishit Kunal
Reserve Bank of Indias decision to remove all currency notes printed prior to 2005 in their bid to curb counterfeiting and black money comes as a good step and certainly an applaudable one. In short, there is nothing much left to be argued and if you are someone who is into economics then probably you will certainly give kudos to RBI for taking such a step. Speaking from the common mans point of view, RBI has always done well in its bid to keep up the economy of the country greased to functionality but has never received a whole-hearted support from the government. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how the decision taken by RBI is good for us, its imperative that one understands the steps taken by RBI and their significance.
In short, RBI, as mentioned above, has decided to remove all the currency notes printed pre-2005. If you take a look at Rs 500, Rs 1000 or for that matter even Rs 100 notes, you will notice that the year of printing of notes printed in and before 2005 are never shown, but any notes printed after 2005 bear the year of printing on them.
At the same time, if you are planning to exchange your notes in a bank where you dont have an account, then you will have to produce your identification proof as well.
The decision to remove all the notes printed before 2005 means that RBI has made life tougher for all those who are involved in the counterfeiting business or possess black money and these people will now have to liquidate their possessions in order to save their neck. This means that a person who possesses black money will automatically have to flush them out to the banks as white money otherwise they would be dealt with, not only by their banks but also by the Income Tax department and finally by the law. The steps taken though are in their interim period currently and will only come into effect from July 1 and these steps will show how the economy of the country would be at that point of time. Then again, the country is all set to witness a new government by May 2014, so the ruling party will definitely be on her toes to support measures taken by RBI, unlike the current government under which corruption has rocketed.
Money if not used, is like a dead body and there are many who are practically holding a dead body, a body which can be so valuable for the growth of our country. The following step will actually force the people to use that money and money whether printed in 2005, before 2005 or after 2005 remains valuable for it remains in transaction, which keeps the economy steady and somewhere also helps the value of the currency at international market high. Unfortunately, its due to loads of black money that somewhere we are seeing the value of rupees depleting day by day. When at one point of time a dollar would mean some Rs 50 now its somewhere due to black money and counterfeiting that the value has decreased to some Rs 60 and can slide down even further. Have a doubt regarding this one? Ask any economist and he will agree somewhere with this point.
Presently, the idea is in its fetal stage and there are still many loopholes which can be pointed out after eminent economists, bank officials and government including RBI itself sit down and discuss the pros and cons of this measure. But then at the same time, RBI couldnt have timed it better for they are giving themselves enough time to iron out the flaws which can be pointed out but, the new government in order to build its image positively will be forced to help RBI and probably then one can witness the graph of corruption which has been rising, finally coming down.
All said, money has always been a valuable asset to each and every individual and when that money is used in a proper manner then its the people who do well and when people do well, the country grows and develops. The steps taken by RBI are certainly important ones and finally, its RBI which has done something to the give common man the hope that one day they would be able to eradicate corruption from our system finally, once and for all.
A student of Mass Communication from SOC, Manipal, Nishit holds a deep passion for writing, where his interests range from sports to movies to politics and anything he can scribble about. The author also loves to quiz and get quizzed and also debate with people on various topics. The author also likes to face the camera and has acted in various plays and dramas whenever given the opportunity A self-confessed movie addict and someone who calls himself as a sports junkie, the author loves to read books, watch movies, listen to music and just write on anything he finds interesting to write during his spare time. You can mail your queries or just anything to author at nishitkunal@rediffmail.com