NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took the government to task today, condemning the roll out of demonetisation as "monumental mismanagement" by the Centre."60-65 people have lost their lives... I want to ask the Prime Minister, can he name any country where people have deposited their money but are not able to withdraw it?" Singh said, referring to the people who have lost their lives while waiting in queues outside banks and ATMs The former PM further said he is in favour of ending black money but said he had issues with the measure Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken to do so."The PM has been saying that this is a way forward and that demonetisation will help curb terrorism; I do not object to this. But there has been monumental mismanagement in the implementation," Singh said in his address in the Rajya Sabha The currency ban has inconvenienced people and eroded their confidence in the currency and banking system, Singh said."The PM said 'wait for 50 days' but for the poor, even 50 days can be detrimental. The Prime Minister must come up with some constructive proposal on how we can implement the scheme."The former PM also said the rural population is suffering due to the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes."The cooperative banking sector, which is serving a large number of people in the rural sector, is not operational. The way in which demonetisation has been implemented will hurt agriculture and small industries."Singh reiterated that it is important to take into account the "distress of the people" following the "monumental failure" of the demometisation policy.