Demonetisation greatest blunder in 70 years: Arun Shourie

Former union minister Arun Shourie (Express Archive)

CALLING THE decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currencies the “greatest blunder in economic policy for 70 years”, Arun Shourie, former minister in the NDA-I government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on Tuesday said the RBI governor in this case has behaved “like an under secretary in the Ministry of Finance”.

“It (demonetisation) is the symptom of a pattern of government where there is no consultation. It may happen again and again. The fact that somebody keeps winning elections is no reason to change our mind. Those who vote will vote on other considerations, and they do not know how economy should be run,” Shourie said at a public lecture on ‘Politics of Development’ at National Institute of Advanced Studies.

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“Somebody gets a brainwave, and because nobody can oppose them, there is demonetisation,” he said.

“You can see this from the fact that every day they are inventing something new — wherever the arrow falls that is the target. It is governance by illumination and revelation.”
Stating that India has never had a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) where functions are as centralised as they are today, Shourie said, “We have never had as weak a PMO — in terms of domain competence —- as we have today.”