Continuing his tirade against the Centre on the demonetisation woes involving the State, CM Harish Rawat said on Wednesday that the State had so far incurred a staggering loss of around Rs 1000 crore in its aftermath. “The economy here is showing a slump much bigger than we initially estimated,” he said.
He further said that the people had earlier gulped the Modi stunt of each receiving Rs15 lakh in his bank account. “The farmers who were enthused by the slogan of Acchhe Din as coined by Modi are at the receiving end of the move launched by the same Modi. I visited Manglore today where the vegetable growers came and sought my help with their produce like spinach, brinjal and cauliflowers remaining unsold despite the prices being lowered to Rs one per kg, all due to demonetisation,” CM said.
He said that he had submitted a memorandum to PM, highlighting the loss incurred by the state by way of by demonetisation aftermath. “The memorandum states that Uttarakhand being a small state, economy here is based on tourism and related industries. The state reeling under acute shortage of currency notes, the people are jostling their ways into the banks and ATMs. The tourist footfall is small as compared to the normal. The farmers are suffering with the cooperative banks refusing to deposit the now- recalled currency notes of Rs500 and 1000. The sowing for Rabi season on, the farmers are devoid of money to purchase seeds and fertilisers. I apprehend that Rabi crop would be adversely affected, resulting in further aggravation of the plight of the farmers. In view of the grim situation, we appeal to the Centre to waive the farmers’ loans for November and December. They are not in a position to pay loan installment due to cash crisis,” he said.
CM further said that revenue collection is hitting a new low. “Volume of VAT collection, stamp duty collection, excise and registration fee collection is dwindling. Since the Centre would avail a part of the money collected under the heads of direct and indirect taxes they should share the burden with the state governments,” he added.