No end to chaos, govt calls all-party meet

HT, 14 Nov 2016, NEW DELHI: Displeasure spilled onto streets across the country on Sunday as people stood in serpentine queues for hours even as banks strove to dispense cash following the Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to scrap large denomination notes.
Meanwhile, the government called an all-party meet on Tuesday, even as the Congress said it will raise the issue in Parliament. Congress leader Anand Sharma has given a suspension of business notice under Rule 267 in the Rajya Sabha for discussion on the issue.
Tempers were frayed across the country as thousands queued outside banks and ATMs for the fourth day to swap `500 and `1,000 banknotes after they were abolished in a move to tackle black money.
“I have been waiting here since 4am. I don’t even have money to buy food,” a man outside an ATM in Lajpat Nagar said.
Nearly half of the country’s two lakh ATMs have been shut and the ones still in operation are quickly running out of the new notes as scores of people descend upon them. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said ATMs had not been adjusted to handle new currency notes prior to the announcement in order to keep it under wraps.
The political tussle intensified on Sunday, with the government and the Opposition trading barbs.
“There are enormous queues, people are lining up, they are screaming because they don’t have food at home. All this is something that Jaitley, as a responsible minister, has to respond to. He can’t shrug his shoulders like that,” Congress leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid said. He said the “financial chaos” was caused because the government failed to gauge the impact of the decision.
Traders in Delhi’s vegetable market said they were considering shutting down the market as cash was running out, and banks were dispensing limited amounts of money.