The extreme shortage of new Rs 500 notes in the wake of the ill-planned demonetisation move has forced a panicky Narendra Modi government and the Reserve Bank of India to turn desperate and issue orders that a new series of Rs 50 notes will be printed without a vital step, making counterfeiting relatively easy.

A 4 December RBI notification, accessed by The Quint, says that “the design and security features of (the proposed new Rs 50) banknotes will be similar to the banknotes of Rs 50 denomination with the ascending font of numerals in both the number panels and without intaglio print issued earlier in Mahatma Gandhi series-2005.”