Opposition attacks govt in LS for failing to give estimate of black money recovered due to demonetization

Government today came under attack from Opposition parties in Lok Sabha for "failing" to come out with an estimate of recovery of black money as a result of demonetization, which was cited as a major aim of banning the high-value notes.

Raising the issue during discussion on the budget, CPI(M) leader P Karunakaran said the government was duty-bound to inform Parliament about the quantum of black money it had recovered through demonetization and the details must be made public. "The Prime Minister is not ready to give the details. The Finance Minister is also not answering the question on it. The government must inform the Parliament how much black money it managed to recover through demonetization," he said.

The member from Kerala also said government has all the means including agencies like CBI and Income Tax department to get the details of recovery of black money if it does not have the figure. He also targeted the RBI for not sharing details about the fallout of the demonetization move and partcularly criticised the central bank for putting restrictions on cooperative banks in exchange of old currencies.

Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik of NCP also attacked the government for "failing" to furnish how much blackmoney was recovered through the demonetization exercise. Containing blackmoney was a major aim of the demonetization exercise. The government must now tell us how much blackmoney was recovered," he said. Karunakaran his state Kerala had suffered a loss of Rs 3,000 to 4,000 crore due to demonetization and demanded compensation from the Centre to negate the adverse impact.