On Friday, 19th May, the Reserve Bank of India decided to withdraw the 2000 Rs currency notes from circulation under the ‘Clean Note Policy’. The banknotes will continue to be legal tender. In a circular released about the same, the RBI also said, “To complete the exercise in a time-bound manner, and to provide adequate time to the members of the public, all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for 2000 Rs banknotes until 30th September, 2023”.
The RBI has asked all the banks to stop issuing 2000 Rs notes with immediate effect, and the exchange of these banknotes into notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of 20, 000 Rupees at a time, starting from May 23rd, 2023.
As per the RBI, the purpose of these banknotes was fulfilled once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities.
Reacting to this move, the Congress has now targeted the Prime Minister, saying that this is “typical of our self-styled Vishwa guru” and the PM’s method of “first act, second think”. Taking to Twitter, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Typical of our self-styled Vishwa Guru. First Act, Second Think (FAST). 2000-rupee notes introduced with such fanfare after that singularly disastrous ‘Tughlaqi firman’ of Nov 8, 2016 are now being withdrawn”.
Tweeting against the move, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, “Second Demo disaster starts…M= madness”.
