I am sure you're familiar with the phrase "we all remember where we were when X happened". Now replace that 'X' with the word 'demonetisation' and you will witness India shudder collectively. Because that was a shock to the system. Yes, we were told that it was a necessary shock by none other than our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We were told that stopping the production of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes and bringing in Rs. 2000 and new Rs. 500 notes is going to put an end to corruption, black money, and fake currency rackets. What has the Government done since then? They have exhibited the not-so-subtle art of shifting goalposts.

When the Government was questioned whether corruption was tackled, they said that that was never the intention of the demonetisation exercise. When the Government was questioned whether demonetisation helped tackle the menace of black money, they said that that was never the goal. And now if you go and ask the Government that if the demonetisation process helped break the backbone of the system that circulates fake currency, I am pretty sure that they're going to say that that was also not the intention of the exercise. Why? Well, because the facts about the fake currency seized in India presented by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is in complete contradiction with the Government's promises.

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According to India Today, the NCRB's latest annual report shows that law enforcing agencies seized Fake India Currency Note (FICN) is worth Rs. 46.06 crore. Of this, 56.31% was in the form of Rs. 2000 notes. The report also shows that not only Rs. 2000 notes have contributed to the value of seized fake currency, but also their share in the overall value has increased considerably. In 2017, law enforcing agencies seized fake currency worth Rs. 28.10 crore, out of which 53.30% was Rs. 2000 notes. In 2018, that number rose to 61.01 per cent, thereby proving that that particular currency was being easily printed and circulated.

Image courtesy: Quartz

India Today further reported that the seizure of fake Rs. 2000 notes was happening in a handful states. The top contributor is Gujarat (ICYMI, Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of this state) with Rs. 6.93 crore worth of Rs. 2000. Then there was West Bengal with Rs. 3.5 crore, Tamil Nadu with Rs. 2.8 crore, and Uttar Pradesh with Rs. 2.6 crore. Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Sikkim are the three states where not a single fake Rs. 2000 note was seized as of December 2018, along with Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadar, and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.

Now, I am pretty sure the Government's pet IT cell and many other ministers will start saying that the fact these counterfeit notes are being captured is proof that demonetisation was a success. So, here's another bit of info for y'all. According to The Economic Times, currency notes in circulation stood at Rs. 21.71 lakh crore as of May end 2019. Rs. 21.71 lakh crore! Out of that only Rs. 46.06 crore has been seized. What's the guarantee that the rest I-don't-how-many-lakh-crores are genuine? There's no guarantee. The only that it guarantees is that this Government will come up with futile exercises like demonetisation, make us stand in lines for hours, days, and even months just so that we can never sit down to think about what's actually troubling our country. Because if we don't get the time to think, we won't have any questions, and if we don't have questions, the Government doesn't have to answer to anything/anyone.

Just in case you need another reminder about how dead-ass unnecessary demonetisation, please listen to the words uttered by PM Narendra Modi on 8th November 2016 and try to think about how much of his promises have been fulfilled:

Cover image courtesy: Wikipedia