New Delhi: As banks and ATMs on continue to witness chaos, famous novelist Chetan Bhagat on Saturday opined, while demonetisation might be well-intentioned, the poor execution of an idea leads to problems for ordinary citizens.
Bhagat, who has penned many famous novels said, “All Indians being asked to prove they aren't criminals and their money is legitimate. Least u can do is not make them suffer while doing so.”
“To queue for several hours to find an empty ATM for Rs 2,000 of your own money is no fun. Execution of an idea as important as the idea,” the noted writer tweeted.
Below are some his other tweets:
“Incompatibility of notes, small limits, limited number of bank branches and the massive swapping required - did they run through scenarios?”
"Don't use patriotism as an excuse for bad operations research type planning. What's not going well has to be told, in national interest."
"I love my country. I am all for cleaning up economy. I am for big ideas,like demonetization. However, I also think execution is important."
Bhagat's reaction comes as crores of of anxious people massed outside banks and ATMs across the country for a third day to deposit or exchange their spiked currency or take out cash.
Although second Saturday is a holiday for most banks, the government has ordered all banks across the country to function both on Saturday and Sunday.
Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, ICICI, Standard Chartered, Kotak Mahindra... the crowds were the same everywhere.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has welcomed PM Narendra Modi's 'surgical strike' on black money, political parties like Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Trinamool Congress have heavily criticised the government over Rs 500, Rs 1,000 note ban.
BJP president Amit Shah on Friday asserted that rival parties have exposed themselves and shown their true face by criticising the Centre's demonetisation move which, he said, has rattled those with black money and fake currency and made some political parties poor as well.
Taking a swipe at his rivals, the BJP chief said he would like to ask Congress, SP, BSP and AAP as to why they are so pained.
In a surprising move, PM Modi on Tuesday announced, “To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is 8th November 2016. This means that these notes will not be acceptable for transactions from midnight onwards. The five hundred and thousand rupee notes hoarded by anti-national and anti-social elements will become just worthless pieces of paper. The rights and the interests of honest, hard-working people will be fully protected. Let me assure you that notes of one hundred, fifty, twenty, ten, five, two and one rupee and all coins will remain legal tender and will not be affected.”
