New Delhi: The Rs 2000 currency notes that were introduced after demonetization in 2016 are likely to be phased out gradually.
On Monday, BJP MP Sushil Modi demanded that the notes should be banned and those holding them should be given two years’ time to deposit them in banks.
Raising the issue in the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the MP claimed that the currency notes are being used for ‘illegitimate activities’.
In order to support his demand for phasing out the currency notes, the MP said that the European Union (EU) discontinued 500 euro notes in 2018 and Singapore stopped issuing USD 10,000 notes in 2010 to curb illegal activities of drug trafficking, money laundering, terror funding, and tax evasion, etc.
RBI stopped printing Rs 2000 notes
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stopped printing Rs 2000 notes in 2019-20. It printed 3542.991 million pieces of Rs 2000 notes in 2016-17. The number has gone down to 111.507 million in 2017-19.
It further went down to 46.690 million in 2018-19. In the next financial year, RBI stopped printing the notes.
As per an annual report released by the central bank, the volume of Rs. 2000 notes in circulation has decreased year on year since 2020.
Not just the volume but also the share of Rs. 2000 notes in the total value of banknotes in circulation was reduced from 22.6 percent in 2020 to 13.8 percent in 2022.
Demonetization in India
The recent demonetization in India was done on November 8, 2016, wherein Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi series were demonetized. New Rs 500 notes and Rs 2000 banknotes were also introduced.
As the demonization was done suddenly, many people have struggled due to cash shortages.
It was not the first time, earlier too demonization took place in India in 1946 and 1978.
In 1946, Rs 1000 and Rs 10000 denomination currency notes were removed from circulation. However, the effect of the demonetization was negligible as the higher denomination notes were not available to common people.
Even after the demonization of Rs 1000 and Rs 10000, it was reintroduced in 1954.
During the second demonization that took place in 1978, denominations of Rs 1000, Rs 5000, and Rs 10000 were removed from circulation.
