NEW DELHI: For the last three days, there have been long winding queues at banks and ATMs across the country as cash-strapped people wait to withdraw money for their daily needs.
The discontinuation of old Rs. 500 and 1000 currency notes have inconvenienced many and given sleepless nights to those with stashes of undisclosed income.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is usually reserved in her comments, today had a message for citizens and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making a plea to people to see the larger picture.
"As a citizen, honestly I will say congratulations Mr Prime Minister. You have gone ahead with a very strong move for your larger plan to wipe out corruption in our country and that's the larger overview we as a country need to recognize. Change is not always comfortable, everyone will find their way to embrace it if they focus on the larger picture," the 43-year-old actor told NDTV.
In a surprise announcement, the Prime Minister had announced on Tuesday night that Rs. 500 and 1000 notes will be discontinued from Wednesday midnight as part of the government's efforts to curb black money. Instead, new high security 500 and 2000-rupee notes will go into circulation.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and also BJP ally Shiv Sena have questioned the move, saying it would inconvenience people.
Ever since ATMs re-opened yesterday, there have been hours-long queues and agitated crowd outside them, leading to chaos when most ATMs ran out of money. Lakhs of people stood outside banks for a third day today for long hours trying to replace 500 and 1,000 rupee bank notes.
Withdrawals from banks are limited to Rs. 10,000 a day and in ATMs, there will be restriction of Rs. 2,000 per day per card in the first few days, which will later be raised to Rs. 4,000 later. People can deposit the old notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 in banks or post office accounts till December.
Source: NDTV
