GUWAHATI, Nov 28 - In a strong reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s demonetisation policy of scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, members and cadres of Silchar District Congress Committee and Dibrugarh INC, besides Left and Democratic Front, took to the streets today and voiced their dissatisfaction, besides extending solidarity to the woes of the common man.
In Silchar: A rally was taken out from the Congress Bhawan which saw a large turnout of Congress leaders and cadres. The rally snaked its way across the main streets and reached the Khudiram Bose Point to stage a symbolic protest against the sudden move by the Central Government, our Correspondent reports.
Kishore Bhattacharjee, general secretary of Silchar District Congress Committee slammed the Prime Minister, saying that ever since Modi became the PM, he has been bombarding well-packaged lies to the people of the country.
Former minister and general secretary of Barak Cha Sramik Union, Ajit Singh said that they sympathise with the sufferings of the common man and also the tea garden labourers who are struggling to encash their own hard-earned money because of the sudden cash crunch owing to demonetisation.
Singh further challenged the Prime Minister to accomplish his challenge to open bank accounts in all the tea gardens of Barak Valley within December 15. In the words of Singh, �there are 403 tea gardens in Barak Valley and the poor labourers cannot skip their routine work to stand in the queue to open bank accounts by losing their day�s earnings.
Further, the banks are located in far-flung areas, which makes it all the more difficult for the labourers to reach there for opening accounts. He therefore urged the district administration and also the bank authorities to take the initiative to open accounts for the labourers and cautioned that they will not hesitate to stage protests in the days ahead.
On the other hand, on a day when most of the Left-ruled States and also the Trinamool Congress in Bengal observed a 12-hour bandh in protest against the demonetisation move, members of CPI, CPI(ML) and CPI(M) here observed protest day. CPI leader Rafiq Ahmed alleged that the demonetisation move is a well-knit ploy of the Prime Minister to help the capitalists to convert their black money into white money.
In Dibrugarh: The district unit of the Indian National Congress (INC) here observed Akrosh Divas today in protest against the alleged arbitrary demonetisation drive of the Narendra Modi- led Central Government, our Staff Correspondent adds.
The members of the district Congress party staged demonstration on the side of Mancotta Road near Rajiv Bhawan here for about two hours. Former Ministers Prithibi Majhi and Atuwa Munda also took part in the demonstration. The demonstrators criticised the policies of Prime Minister Modi through slogans. They demanded that Modi explain why the rich people were not seen in queues in the banks and at ATMs and asked him why poor people were made to suffer.
Former Minister Prithibi Majhi said that the Congress is opposed to the demonetisation policy of the Modi-led Government as it was causing immense hardship to the poor section. �The common people like the farmers, labourers, petty businessmen and other people from the middle class have been denied access to their hard-earned money,� said Majhi.
Congress leader Atuwa Munda said that Modi has carried out the �Orthonoitik Surgical Strike� on the poor people, killing about 70 in the exercise. �Without making the required currency notes available in the banks and ATMs, Modi has inflicted pain on the people by scrapping the previous Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. He had promised the people of creating one crore jobs a year and depositing Rs 15 lakhs in the accounts of the citizens after bringing back black money of Indians stashed abroad, but miserably failed to keep his promise.
This demonetisation exercise is only to cover up his failures,� said the Congress leader. The Left and Democratic Front of the district also expressed concern over the financial crisis arising out of the demonetisation drive.
In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister through the district administration here, the party workers from the Left and Democratic Front jointly demanded that till alternative arrangements are made like sufficient new notes and functional ATMs, transaction with old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes be allowed at least upto December 30, 2016.
