Cashless economy is bigger dream than achche din: Akhilesh

Lucknow: Taking a dig at Narendra Modi's demonetisation move, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav termed cashless economy as a "bigger dream" than achche din and said the note ban will be an issue in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. "The dream of cashless economy is a bigger one than achche din... it is however for the government to see how it will be realised," he said at a function to distribute cheques to the families of martyrs and 14 persons who allegedly lost their lives while standing in queues outside ATMs/banks after demonetisation. Attacking the BJP government on note ban, Yadav, without taking names, alleged that people have been betrayed and economy harmed. "Earlier (when the note ban was announced) people had faith, or rather confusion, that a big change will be brought... but soon after the very same people started saying that there could not have been a bigger loss to the economy... national and international economists are also writing about it. "It is for the government to see how it will work out the losses to the GDP but it is a fact the people had to face hardships and I have said earlier too that the government which pose problems are voted out by people," he said, adding that in the coming elections those who had faced problems will stand against them. Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to announce compensation for the families of those who allegedly died while queuing up outside banks and ATMs for long post demonetisation. Chief Minister had earlier this month announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the families of demonetisation victims. Giving examples of major risk in online transactions, Yadav said one of the accused arrested for fraudulently withdrawing money from someones account said that he was caught because he was a "novice". "Anyone who becomes an expert in cyber crime will never be arrested," the Chief Minister said after presenting cheques of Rs two lakh each to the families of 14 people who allegedly died while standing in bank queues. To a question on what will be the election issue, Yadav said "Development, road, water all will be elections issues... why would note ban not be an election issue".