Moga residents welcome RBI call to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes, mandi agents bemoan their situation

The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to withdraw Rs 2000 currency notes from circulation may have come as a shock to many. But in Punjab’s Moga, residents have welcomed it saying it will eliminate corruption.

The Bhagwant Mann government in the state has been taking on corruption in the state ever since it came to power and has not even spared its ministers for corruption.

Speaking on the RBI decision to demonetise Rs 2000 notes, a resident saw it as a direct assault on corruption since the high-denomination note is much sought after as payment in underhand deals.

Other residents said it will speed up business since it would be easier to deal with smaller denomination notes as looking for change for Rs 2000 notes had turned into a bothersome chore.

A resident noted that the time given for changing notes till September 30 is a good call. The Narendra Modi government seems to have learned its lesson from the 2016 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes when the new notes took time to reach the people and damaged the economy as well, said a resident.

Besides with Rs 2000 notes already rare in transactions, it would indicate that a lot of these notes have been hoarded by people at home, said many people who spoke to APN. 

The one group of people who seem to have genuine worries are the arhatiyas, the commission agents at mandis.

‘If the Rs 2,000 is discontinued, it will create problems for us because most of the farmers come to us and demand big notes. We have already lakhs of Rs 2000 notes, now in one day we have been told we can only deposit notes worth Rs 20000, which is basically 10 notes. We will have to spend too many days standing in queues at banks to exchange the notes,’ said an agent.