The historical announcement of Demonetisation came with its share of apprehensions, questions, doubts and of course a long list of lies and canards. Once black money hoarders realized how with just one stroke Government had changed the game, Brain storming sessions of how to pressurize government for a roll back decision followed. Needless to say sections of the media were over enthusiastic to play moderators here.

The lies started with

1. “BJP had informed its people about Demonetisation in advance”, and to support this a news link was quoted which showed the photo of new 2000 rupee currency bill. A screenshot of a BJP leader was also circulated on social media, holding a 2000 rupee bundle.

-Yes the picture of 2000 rupee bill was indeed leaked and made its way to some news website, but did it say anywhere that the Government is withdrawing 500 and 1000 currency bills? It only said a new currency bill shall be introduced. How does that translate as a warning about Demonetisation? What is instrumental in killing existing black money and fake currency- introduction of a new currency note? or withdrawing existing two big denomination bills?

-Yes there was a certain BJP leader who posted his picture holding 2000 rupee note on social media, but so did some other person who has no connection with BJP. What’s interesting is that the date stamp on BJP leaders’ photo shows it was posted one day after the other person had posted it. How does it mean that BJP leaking info to its own people?

There was no leakage whatsoever regarding Demonetisation, and to keep it under secrecy, the government had to start 500 rupee bill printing and started recalibrating ATM’s only after the announcement.

2. The next lie floated was that the Government would seal bank lockers and freeze everyone’s jewelry. Needless to say how baseless this rumor was. How will sealing everyone’s bank locker help curb black money? If anyone had stuffed his locker with black money, it anyway becomes useless. Thankfully this rumor got killed even before it started.

3. Then came this- Government will demonetise 100 and 50 rupee bills, and this was totally aimed at creating panic among the poorer section who were already confused and worried with the Demonetisation announcements. Government has been pretty proactive, I would say. There have been occasional press releases busting the myths around Demonetisation, and in a press conference it was declared that the Government had no intention of demonetising any other legal tender notes.

4. When lies started getting busted sooner than expected, vested interest groups came up with something creative like the new 2000 rupee bill is of bad quality and the color is coming off. Thanks to social media, some people actually experimented by soaking it in water etc. (videos are available on YouTube). Finally the truth surfaced- the new currency bills have a security feature called intaglio printing, where if the currency bill is rubbed with a cloth it creates a triboelectric effect transferring a faint impression of ink color on the cloth. This does not qualify as ‘notes are bleeding color’.

5. Next came the series of op-eds and discussions on how it was a bad decision since India isn’t prepared to move towards digital economy, as most Indians don’t have a bank account. Yes we are still behind when it comes to “banking for all”, but is the present government to be blamed or the ones saying we are not ready because not every Indian has a bank account? Since the launch of Jan Dhan Yojana in 2014, more than 25 Crore bank accounts have already been opened which makes it almost one account per family (considering an average family size of 4-5). Now coming to another fact, this Demonetisation also made people open their accounts who didn’t have one yet.

6. Since this Demonetisation came with an intention of curbing corruption and killing black money, the next round of debate was that it can never stop corruption, and people will find a different way to continue with their corrupt deeds. Yes I agree people will find new methods because corruption after all has always existed in every society and in every country. But should that stop us from finding a way to minimize it if we can’t kill it? With the implementation of GST, Benami property laws and information sharing agreements made with foreign governments, there will be a big drop in further accumulation of black money.

7. It was also argued, 'what about those who have already invested their black money in benami property?' Government is definitely aware of this and that’s why the Benami Property Law and Benami Transaction Act has been made even stricter. On 1st Nov 2016, the Benami Property Transaction Act came into force which not only lays down the definition of benami transactions but also prohibits them and a violation of the act is punishable with minimum 5 to 7 years of imprisonment with a heavy fine of up to 10% to 25% of the market value of the property. The properties that will be held under this act are liable for confiscation by the Government with no compensation paid.

8. And lastly came the confusion about the last date for currency bill exchange, almost deliberately created one. The Government made another announcement yesterday that current bills of 500 and 1000 cannot be exchanged anymore, after 24th Nov midnight. As expected, media starts with its outrage that Government had promised the exchange shall continue till 31st Dec. It was a complete lie! 

If you see the above picture, it is a screen shot from the Finance Ministry’s website. Point number 5(iii) clearly mentions, the exchange shall continue for 15 days and after that RBI shall review the situation and decide if there should be an extension or not. 15 days from 9th brings us to 24th Nov. Certain sections of the media have been blinded by their hatred towards the government and this was keeping them so busy that they never felt the need to go through the Finance Ministry notification dated 8th Nov.

While these points happen to be the major ones, there were numerous incidents of “my maid is suffering”, “poor people going jobless” to almost every death being linked to the Demonetisation issue and every marriage was getting called off because of lack of funds. While media kept discussing how Demonetisation has ruined every possible family in this country, their representatives left no stone unturned when it came to instigating people standing outside banks and post offices. And despite so much of effort being put in, here are some figures which show the reality.