Sometimes the oldest tricks can be used to solve new, difficult problems.
The government has decided to mark those with indelible ink who exchange Rs. 4,500 worth of old notes for new ones, the weekly limit set for now. The indelible ink is the same as is used during elections to ensure that people don’t vote more than once.
“Some unscrupulous people are trying to convert their black money into white and have arranged for groups and are sending them from one branch to another to exchange notes. So you see, the same people are coming again and again,” said Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
The government has also appealed to people with Jan Dhan accounts to not allow themselves to be used by other people to transfer money into their accounts. People with black money had been using Jan Dhan account holders as proxies to deposit their cash into their accounts, effectively converting black money into white. The indelible ink will ensure that Jan Dhan account holders can only exchange up to their weekly limit.
The government has said that it’ll be reviewing Jan Dhan accounts with suspicious activity.
The Economic Affairs Secretary also appealed to people to not believe rumours being spread on social media. ‘We have enough stock of salts and there is no reason for a temporary surge in price or shortage. Supply of essential commodities is being closely monitored. There are a lot of stories spreading through social media, like reports of certain institutions going on strike. There is no such thing, please don’t believe such reports.”