Demonetisation war: Centre has left people feeling 'blackmailed', says Shiv Sena

Asserting that the government has handled the matter of demonetisation in a very 'vague' manner, the Shiv Sena stated that people of the nation have been blackmailed into the entire development.

"Neither the Prime Minister is answering in the House nor does the RBI Governor have any answer to it. People have been blackmailed into the whole thing. Opposition Parties have been demanding answers from the Prime Minister which he is avoiding in the Parliament and speaking only in "Mann ki Baat"," Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande told ANI here.

Pinning her hopes on the upcoming Union Budget, she added that it should relieve the pain of the people post demonetisation.

Downplaying the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifting restrictions on daily withdrawal from ATMs, the Shiv Sena leader further said that this relaxation is only for the current account so that leaves the ordinary person with the same problem of only withdrawing Rs. 24,000 a week.

"There is no relief for the common man. This relief is only for the business community," Kayande added.

RBI yesterday announced lifting of restrictions on daily withdrawal of money from ATMs with effect from Wednesday and has also withdrawn all limits on Current Accounts and overdraft accounts with immediate effect.

In a circular to the banks, the RBI, however, said the weekly limits of 24 thousand rupees on Savings Bank accounts will continue.

It said, it is also considering withdrawing this limit in the near future. The RBI urged all banks to encourage their constituents to sustain the movement towards digitisation of payments and switching over of payments from cash to non-cash mode.

Government and RBI had imposed limits on withdrawal of money from ATMs and bank branches in view of currency shortage post- demonetisation. These limits, however, were gradually eased with RBI pumping in new notes of 500 and 2000 rupees.

Prime Minister Modi on November 8 in a televised address to the nation declared the ban on Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes as part of the government's efforts to crackdown on black money.