New Delhi: Demonetisation decision was inevitable, RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy said on Monday visualizing a paradigm shift in economy that will begin a process of bringing down real estate prices and encourage transparency.
Here are the excerpts of S Gurumurthy's exclusive interview with CNN-News18's Executive Editor Bhupendra Chaubey on demonetisation and why it should not be linked to UP elections.
Gurumurthy also claimed that the move was not taken to win Uttar Pradesh.
Bhupen: Economists have criticized this move. Why should we believe PM and not these economists?
RSS: This step was inevitable. Quality of growth from 2004-till now has been a disaster. From 1999-2004 employment grew and economy grew. But after that they went for 8.5 but employment generated was only 2.6. It was jobless growth. Prices and stocks went up. Even property grew.
Bhupen: In a country so big only 2.7 crore credit cards and 74 crore debit. What do you say?
RSS: Non- banking payments must come down. 500,100 rupee notes increasing should be scrutinized. Black cash generates huge black wealth through gold and these cash.
Bhupen: PM Modi said it was a crackdown on black money but has now shifted to digital economy
RSS: Distortation in economy from 2004 was a lot because growth was only Finance based.
Bhupen: So you say that if demon was not done today then in the future we would not have been able to do it.
RSS: Absolutely. Economy would have collapsed.
Bhpen: Chidambaram said that present cash to GDP ratio coming down to 4% is difficult.
RSS: Why Chidambaram look at the past. They don’t look at facts. Story begins in 1999. Financialiszation of economy which led to property prices rising. 2 times the GDP shifted the bank resources to the financial sector completely starving the production sector and employment.
Bhupen: Please tell if all the notes come back then what will be achieved?
RSS: Objective was record the unrecorded cash. This was 1st objective. Then find out who defrauded.
Bhupen: If I have Rs 100 of unrecorded money and I have deposited then I have recorded it.
RSS: Then how did you make you have to answer. Achievement is what is this unrecorded income doing to the economy which is stopped. This 15 lack crores which was damaging the economy is the greatest mismanagement of the economy. This is being corrected now.
Bhupen: But people saying the opposite
RSS: Because they have not looked at the economy story from 1999-2004, 2004-2010. You produce 8.4 % growth then only produce 2.7 million employment. Gross mismanagement of economy.
Bhupen: People in towns and villages still do not have accounts. How are the government look out for them?
RSS: There problem is not only 500 and 1000rs note. Only 4% of this sector is provided by banks. All other are done by cash. So they say cash should not go. If we allow this to go on then it will go on. So we had to stop this. This is why the MUDRA plan should have prevailed. The MUDRA branches would have preceded the demonetization but now its going hand in hand. This is how to fund the informal sector economy not cash.