India’s Currency Ban Under Fire One Year Later

 

It’s been a year since India’s government banned the use of high-value paper money. That decision is being heavily criticized by some individuals and groups.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who ordered the action in November 2016 – has repeatedly defended his decision. The move removed India’s 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from use.

Modi has said the ban was necessary to fight corruption¹ and target “black money.” Black money is a term used to describe undeclared wealth that is not taxed. He said the move was also intended to get rid of fake currency and reduce terror financing.

The ban affected² about 86 percent of the country’s currency. It led to huge cash shortages for nearly two months. Millions of people stood in long bank lines to get cash for their daily needs.

About 75 percent of India’s workforce³ depends on the country’s cash economy for employment.

Some critics say the ban greatly harmed India’s economy at a time when it was experiencing healthy growth. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the move “reckless.”

Singh recently spoke⁴ out against the ban again, saying that “nowhere in the world has any democracy undertaken such a coercive move.” He said the measure was hurting small and medium businesses across the country.

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy is a Mumbai-based think tank. It estimated that about 1.5 million jobs were lost in the first four months of 2017 following the currency ban.

But government officials recently declared the year-old policy a success and celebrated⁵ the anniversary as “anti-black money day.”

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Facebook the country’s dependence⁶ on cash had fallen by nearly 3.89 trillion rupees. He also said the cash to Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, rate dropped from 12 to 9 percent over the past year.

The finance ministry⁷ said the policy led to about 5.6 million new taxpayers⁸ being added. And the Reserve Bank of India said new data showed that digital money transactions tripled.

But the opposition⁹ Congress party held demonstrations¹⁰ in major cities to protest what they believe is a failed policy. “It has ruined the lives of millions of hard-working Indians,” the party’s Vice¹¹ President Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

The policy also affects people in neighboring Nepal. There, thousands of migrant workers held old currency notes that could not be exchanged before the date to do so passed.

Nepalese officials are currently seeking help from India to provide a way to exchange the nearly 55 million in Indian currency notes held by its citizens.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

intend – v. to plan or want to do (something): to have (something) in your mind as a purpose or goal?

rid – v. to cause (someone or something) to no longer have or be affected by (someone or something unwanted)?

fake – adj. not true or real

currency – n. ?the money that a country uses: a specific kind of money?

cash – n. ready money; paper money and coins

data – n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze¹², or plan something

digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology?

reckless – adj. doing something dangerous and not caring about what might happen

coercive – adj. using force to persuade people to do things they are unwilling¹³ to do

transaction – n. a deal involving the buying or selling of something

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

13 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。