Objectives of demonetisation met to large extent: Sitharaman

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the objectives of demonetisation have largely been met as the cash, which was never part of the circulation, has now reached bank accounts.
"I certainly would like to believe that the objectives of demonetisation are to a large extent met. I might need more time to elaborate on the data because the currency has reached the bank accounts," Sitharaman said while participating in an interactive session with Young Ficci Ladies Organisation (YFLO) Hyderabad Committee members.
"It is the business of the RBI to see how many of them are actually accounted for or tax paid currencies which have reached and how many probably escaped the taxation and therefore, for which the account owner will have to reconcile and tell us," she said.

Sitharaman said that by September 30 last year, there was the IDS scheme through which lot of people had made their declarations.
"Come November you had demonetisation... May be, the cash/currencies which have come into the accounts were also part of the declaration made by an individual before September 30...May be, we don't know," she added.
"And if the individual had claimed at that time this was the cash with him and now because we (government) said it has to come into the account and it has come into the accounts. Can we say because you came with the cash it is black? No.

"He has declared it during IDS, if he had, and such differentiations will have to be made for the currencies which have reached the accounts and that is why it is taking lot of time," said Sitharaman.

The minister said she would wait for RBI to spell out how much is legitimate money which has come into the accounts and how much of it will attract penalty.
In November last year, the Narendra Modi government took the country by surprise by demonetising Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.
"When I say with confidence that the objectives of demonetisation is largely fulfilled, it is because the currency has come into the accounts," she said.