India has largely welcomed demonetisation, no social unrest, says Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Indians have accepted the decision to demonetise higher value currency and are cooperating in transforming the country's economy and society, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

• "People have been cooperating immensely with the demonetisation exercise and the country by-and-large has welcomed the decision," Jaitley said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.
• "I don't find any social unrest... The queues are by-and-large disciplined," he said, referring to the lines outside banks and ATMs after the November 8 announcement.
• "If you ask the person standing in queue about demonetisation, he or she is likely to say -- I'm troubled, but am happy this decision has been taken," Jaitley said.

 

• He said that this patience being shown was guided by the long term benefits that would come from the decision.
• Jaitley also called the demonetisation "the new normal" confronting black money which was the norm in India for seven decades.
• "Black money has been a norm in India for seven decades, we want to confront it and create a new normal," Jaitley said.
• He said the demonetisation move would ensure that political funding to become "transparent".
• He said "We are at the cusp of change and the battle between the taxman and the people who try to beat the system will continue."