Letters: Ignorant critics

Analysts will now pick holes in the proceedings of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance

Media reports of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on January 18 have exposed analysts’ ignorance of the purpose and content of the proceedings, more than lapses in the planning and implementation of the withdrawal of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes.

Even before the meeting of the committee took place, the view that took hold was that the Reserve Bank of India governor was appearing for a “qualifying” or “selection” examination. Several media outlet” “leaked” different versions of the “question paper”. About 10 to 20 questions were circulated in the media. Some of these questions were really asked. From the cost of printing new notes to “when you expect normalcy in the currency circulation?”, it was reported that Urjit Patel was “grilled” by the commission. Occasionally, a loving Manmohan Singh supposedly helped him with answers or asked him to skip tough questions.

In hindsight, demonetisation could have been managed better through better planning. Analysts will now pick holes in the conduct of the proceedings of the committee. If these wise men had allowed Parliament to function in November 2016, asked some of the questions being put forth now and suggested some corrections midway, that would have benefited the country.

Even now they have not done their homework. Otherwise, they would not be talking about “replacing” withdrawn currency notes. If 60 per cent of the specified bank notes have been put back into the system, that will definitely take care of India’s cash needs. Some realignment of denominations and reaching out to areas not adequately served by bank branches might be necessary though.

M G Warrier | Mumbai

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