End crisis or resign, Kisan Sabha tells Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi must either quit or take urgent steps to end the misery caused by the note ban, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said on Thursday.

The government must take immediate steps to put an end to the miseries of the common people by allowing old notes till alternative arrangements for their replacement was made, the AIKS said in a statement.

The government must also end all the restrictions imposed on withdrawal of money from banks and ATMs or Modi should resign at once, it added.

The statement called the November 8 demonetisation "a pre-calculated move to save the corporate houses who are in acute crisis by ensuring cash flow through public sector banks by looting the savings of the common people.

"The demonetisation is not aimed at curbing black money or to transform India into a cashless society as claimed by Modi," it added.

The AIKS said 240 corporate institutions, or 48 per cent of the top 500 corporate companies with an overall debt of Rs 12.4 lakh crore, were facing the risk of being excluded from the Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A).

The public sector banks were also facing a severe crisis of growing non performing assets (NPA).

It said the RBI was losing control over the public credit system due to the pro-corporate policy of the Modi government "which writes off whopping debts of corporate forces every year.

"In the last 21 days, Rs 9.35 lakh crore has been remitted in the public sector banks by the common people. Bank employees (feel) around 90-95 per cent of the cancelled currency will be deposited in the banks."

But it said the government was not ready to give back the money of the common people and at the same time writing off loans given to corporate houses.

"The people are facing severe economic and financial crisis and nobody can predict an immediate end to it," it said.

"It seems the government and RBI have lost control over fiscal management of the country."

--IANS

mr/sar