Avoid blunders like demonetisation in future: Manmohan’s advice to Modi

After terming demonetisation as “organised loot” and “monumental disaster”, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday reiterated that the notes ban was disastrous. Addressing a gathering in Rajkot in poll-bound Gujarat, the veteran Congress leader said that “we should avoid such blunder like demonetisation in future”.

Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government, the former prime minister alleged that a large chunk of black money was converted to white during notes ban. He also said that millions of jobs were lost due to the move and new jobs were not created.

Terming the move as a disaster, Singh claimed that none of the decisions by his government hurt the poor.

According to the Congress party, Singh is in Rajkot for an interaction with teachers, professors and professionals on “matters of concern”.

Earlier this month, Singh had attacked Prime Minister Modi over government schemes, referring to hardships faced by people during demonetisation.

He had said, "I invoke memories of more than 100 people who lost their lives while standing in queues as a result of demonetisation. I say with immense pain and a sense of deep responsibility that November 8 was a black day for our economy and democracy."

He had also said that it was too early to conclude that the economic slowdown has reversed as the 6.3 per cent growth rate in the July-September quarter did not take into account the small and medium sector which suffered huge losses in the aftermath of demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST.

"It is too early to conclude that this represents a reversal of the declining trend observed in the previous five quarters. Some economists believe that the CSO which released the figures has not adequately captured the impact of demonetisation and GST on the informal sector that accounts for about 30 per cent of the economy," Singh had said.

The former prime minister said that while Modi claimed to understand Gujarat and the poor "more than anybody else", how was it that "he never understood the pain his decisions unleashed".