Indian banks call in Police as people rush to ditch old banknotes
Indian banks called in thousands of Police on Thursday to manage huge queues outside branches, as people tried to exchange bank notes abruptly pulled out of circulation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a crackdown on “black money”.
Modi announced the shock move on Tuesday night to ditch 500 and 1000 rupee notes – worth a combined US6 billion – that he said were fuelling corruption, being forged and even paying for attacks by Islamist militants against India.
A security guard hands out request slips for the exchange of old high denomination bank notes at a branch of the State Bank of india in Old Delhi, November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Lines formed before banks reopened after being shut on Wednesday to prepare for the change, as people tried to swap the worthless cash for smaller bills or new 2000 rupee notes being rushed into circulation and made to be harder to counterfeit.
Some people frustrated by the long wait got into arguments at Canara Bank near the parliament building in New Delhi, as people barged into queues that wound through the branch and on to the street outside.
Economists and some businesses, especially those involved in cashless payments, have welcomed the “demonetisation” scheme as a vital step toward broadening the formal economy and improving tax compliance.
But it has disrupted the daily lives of hundreds of millions of Indians who live in the cash economy that is estimated to account for a fifth of India’s US$2 trillion gross domestic product and who have low confidence in banks or plastic cards. (Excerpt from Reuters)
