Note ban to wipe out a 'plague'

A bureaucrat explains that demonetisation will wipe out black economy

In an off-the-record interaction with this newspaper, a senior bureaucrat defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation initiative and its intention to flush out black money, comparing it to the deadly plague, which hit parts of India, especially Surat, in 1994, and led to the death of 56 people. The bureaucrat explained that demonetisation would wipe out the black economy for good just as Surat changed after the plague. “Surat used to be dirty. Now it is one of India’s cleanest cities,” he said.