10 years completed since the decision of demonetisation in India

It has been 10 years since the decision of demonetisation in India. On 8 November 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on television and announced that 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes would be considered invalid from the midnight of the same day. This sudden decision created an atmosphere of great chaos and panic across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the citizens to deposit their old notes in banks or post offices between 10 November and 30 December 2016. For 50 days following this announcement, people had to stand in long queues outside banks and ATMs. At that time, a total of 15.44 lakh crore rupees were in circulation in the country, out of which 86 percent, or 13.27 lakh crore rupees worth of notes, became invalid overnight. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, 99.3 percent of the banned notes returned to the banking system. During this decade of demonetisation, the number of people filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) has recorded a two-fold increase.

Narendra Damodardas Modi has been serving as the Prime Minister of India since 26 May 2014. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).