Acknowledging the difficulties thrown up by the note ban decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday cautioned that the coming days may even be tougher. But he promised the situation will normalise after the 50-day period for people to deposit their old notes ends on December 30.
At the inauguration of Amul cheese plant in Deesa town of North Gujarat, Modi slammed the Opposition for disrupting Parliament which has led to repeated adjournments in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Here are the key points from his speech:
- “I had said from day one this is not an ordinary decision. It is full of difficulties. It is a difficult decision and I had said a lot of hardships and problems will be faced. For 50 days this difficulty has to be there. And this difficulty will even increase, but after 50 days, I have done my calculation, the situation, in one go, will turn to gradually move towards normalcy. You will see after 50 days that situation will slowly start improving in front of your eyes.”
- “Opposition is not allowing me to speak in Lok Sabha, so, I have decided to speak in ‘jan sabha’ (people’s assembly) But, whenever I would get a chance, I will try to represent the voice of 125 crore people in Lok Sabha. You must be aware that the Opposition is not allowing the Parliament to function. I am surprised that despite government’s assurance that the PM is ready to speak on the issue (of demonetisation), the situation has not improved. Even the President is unhappy about it (disruptions in Parliament).”
- “Opposition is running away from a discussion because they that their lies will be nailed. They do not have the courage to demand complete roll back of note ban decision as they have realised that people are also in favour of demonetisation. All are saying that demonetisation should be implemented properly.”
- “Today, people are standing in queues outside the banks and ATMs for cash. If you are ready to support me for creating a cashless society, the day will not be far when banks will queue up on your mobile phones to provide facilities to you. Those who have laundered and hoarded money post demonetisation will not be spared.”