JEDDAH – A table talk on the impact of demonetization in India was organized by the local chapter of All India Overseas Cultural Congress (AIOCC) at Seasons Restaurant in Jeddah recently. Those who took part in the discussions opined that Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the decision to withdraw high-denomination notes on the people without doing necessary homework and imposed the policy in an inappropriate manner. They said the demonetization policy turned to be a total failure and caused untold miseries to the people. Community members from different parts of India have said the government or the reserve Bank of India has not taken adequate measures to reduce the hardship of people arising from demonetization. It is the people with legitimate savings who are suffering because of this decision and not the black money hoarders who keep their ill-gotten wealth in real estate, gold and foreign currency. Their cash holding is generally 6 percent of the unaccounted wealth. The speakers urged the government of India to initiate immediate steps to mitigate the sufferings of the people by printing and circulating adequate amounts of new bills, calibrating ATMs on a war footing and giving people to full access to their legitimate bank deposits. Syed Nasir Khursheed, chief co-coordinator of AIOCC, was the moderator. Abdul Rahim Ismail, former chairman of the management committee of International Indian School Jeddah, presented the topic. The lone voice in support of Modi's ill-advised policy was of Shoukat Khan, vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party's minority cell in Telengana State. He asserted that the demonetization decision was a good step, which was taken for the sake of the nation and its positive results would be reflected only in the long term. Mohammed Hyder, the newly elected president of India Forum, stated that such a drastic step was taken without any proper planning. Khadar Khan, ex-President of IPWF, said the government has pushed the public to the wall with the shock treatment. According to K.T.A. Muneer, president of OICC Western Regional Committee, said there was a clear political motive behind the drastic step, which caused people to suffer. Mohamed Iqbal, IISJ managing committee chairman, stated the digital payment system in India is a good step but it cannot be achieved overnight. Apart from this, the diversity of India and its vast population is to be taken into consideration, while implementing such important decision. Abdul Raheem Faizy, general manger of Sidra Polyclinic asked the participants to think of solutions to overcome the situation. The speakers decided to echo their voices to the authorities explaining the problems faced by NRIs due to this shock treatment. K.M. Sherif Kunju, general secretary OICC Global Committee; Mir Ghazanfar Ali Zaki, general secretary of SIBN; Waleed Hussain, a financial expert; Zakir Hussain Edavanna, Abdul Rahman Ambalapally, director of Seasons Restaurant, Srijith, Noushad Adoor, Shaji Govid and others spoke and presented their perspectives. Siraj Mohideen, co-coordinator of AIOCC from the Tamil Sangam, welcomed the guests. Jameel Syed, co-coordinator of AIOCC, proposed the vote of thanks.
