New Delhi: A day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, the CPI(M) on Friday raised a flurry of questions to know if all demonetised money has returned to banks and the estimated loss the move has caused to India's economy even as Centre's demonetisation deadline ends on Friday.
In its statement, party Politburo demanded to know why the government has not constituted probes into alleged Sahara-Birla diaries and Vyapam scam at a time when the Prime Minister was "talking a lot" about ending corruption.
Describing demonetisation as "one man made disaster" which has pushed the "beleaguered" Indian economy into a tailspin, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury accused the Prime Minister of running away from questions in this regard, raised in Parliament or by media or through RTI.
"Though PM does not like questions either in Parliament, by the press or via RTI. We must continue to do what we must and ask them," Yechury tweeted.
The CPI(M) asked the government to lift all restrictions on the withdrawal of money by people from banks and remove all costs on such dealings given the Centre is pitching for increased digital transactions.
Among other, the party demanded the government to compensate families of 100 people who have reportedly died while queueing up to withdraw money from banks/ATMs and sought to know how many people have lost jobs since demonetisation was announced.
"The PM must publicly declare the quantum of demonetised money that has returned to the banks ... has all of the demonetised money come back into the banks now? What is the quantum and value of new notes that have been printed so far?" it asked.
"What is the government's estimation of the economic loss to the nation as a result of this move? How many people have lost their jobs and livelihood since demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016?" it sought to know.
Referring to Modi's pitch for ending corruption, the Left party asked the government why it has not instituted probes into the various alleged scams like Vyapam and Sahara-Birla dairies, etc.
Alleging that demonetisation caused "immense misery" to the poor and downtrodden, the Politburo asked the NDA government to double the allocation for the MNREGA to ensure 100 days of employment for all those who are enrolled.
Provide tax rebate to small and medium enterprises and remove all restrictions on deposits and withdrawals of funds from the cooperative banks, it said.
"If there are any specific cases of malpractices against any bank, they should be proceeded against on criminal charges, but the cooperative banking system which is the backbone for rural India cannot be destroyed," it insisted.
