Goa Pradesh Youth Congress President Joel Andrade and his office bearers on Wednesday observed the seventh death anniversary of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes at a condolence meeting organised by the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress at the Congress House in Panaji.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President Tulio de Sousa was the Chief Guest for the function.
Andrade, who is also a Panaji Corporator, recalled the days of horror of November 8, 2016 when the Prime Minister announced in the evening that all notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 denomination were being demonetized in an apparent crackdown on black money.
“The decision affected only the poor, the small businessmen and the small traders who were forced to wait in lines and many of whom even died waiting to withdraw their own money. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was only interested in the welfare of the top 1% and didn’t care, nor did he even apologise or offer any relief to those who suffered on account of demonetization,” Andrade said.
Chief Guest Tulio de Sousa recalled the day which he said was truly a day to condole because of the hundreds of people who died waiting for their own hard earned money.
“It was the poor, the small sellers, the petty traders and others who were made to suffer. They were told to wait in lines and many of them died. People were nonchalantly told that they should use credit and debit cards. The businesses have today yet to recover from the disaster caused by demonetization. The least the government should have done is provided some relief to the people. Today we wish to remind the government that we have not forgotten the hardships they have foisted on us and this event was held in remembrance of the sufferings we have endured at the hands of the BJP government,” de Souza said.
The event was attended by Ahraz Mulla, Prasanjit Dhage and others who spoke on the occasion.
