Former prime minister and eminent economist Manmohan Singh on Thursday lashed out at the demonetisation decision of Narendra Modi government and called it a case of organised loot and legalised plunder.
Here are top 10 quotes from his speech in Rajya Sabha
1. The national income, that is the GDP of the country, can decline by about 2 percentage points as a result of what has been done. This is an underestimate, not an overestimate.
2. I want to ask the prime minister that can he name any country where people have deposited their money but are not able to withdraw it.
3. It is no good that every day the banking system comes up with new rules. It reflects very poorly on the Prime Minister's Office, the Finance Minister's Office and the Reserve Bank of India.
4. These measures (demonetisation) convinced me that the way the scheme has been implemented, it's a monumental management failure.
5. In the process of demonetisation, monumental mismanagement has been undertaken about which there are no two opinions in country as a whole.
6. It is a case of organised loot and legalised plunder.
7. The prime minister said to wait for 50 days...but for poor people, even 50 days can be detrimental.
8. The cooperative banking sector, which is serving a large number of people in the rural sector, is not operational. The way in which demonetisation has been implemented will hurt agriculture and small industries.
9. It is not my intention to pick holes what this side or other side does. But I sincerely hope that the prime minister even in this late hour will help find us practical and pragmatic ways to provide relief to the suffering of the people of this country.
10. Those who say demonetisation is good in long run should recall the quote: 'In the long run we are all dead'.
