Though the national opposition parties took to the streets on Monday against what they called huge inconvenience being faced by common people due to the NDA Government’s decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, the agitation hardly got any support from the people in the State.
As part of the nation-wide protest against the prevailing cash crunch chaos, the opposition parties, barring the BJP in Odisha, hit the streets, while the State Government ordered a shutdown of both Government and private educational institutions even though the ruling BJD did not participate in the protest.
Though private buses in some parts of the State were off the roads, the Government transport systems like DTS bus service in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri were operating smoothly while auto-rickshaws were plying on roads as usual. Train and flight movements were also not disrupted.
The protests did not affect normal life at large as many opposition parties, including the Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), and Communist Party of India-Marxist-leninist (CPI-Ml), staged their protests in front of various banks in the State.
In Puri, members attending the Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU) National Conference held a human chain.
Congress workers organised ‘Jana Akrosh’ (people’s outcry) rallies across the State and held demonstrations at the district and block headquarters. In Bhubaneswar, PCC president Prasad Harichandan along with some other senior party leaders courted arrest while staging a demonstration near the Reserve Bank of India office.
“An undeclared emergency has been imposed by the Narendra Modi Government. People are suffering a lot due to the decision of the NDA Government,” said Harichandan.
Maintaining that the small traders are bearing the brunt of demonetisation and the economy of the country would collapse due to it, CPI(M) State secretary Ali Kishore Patnaik demanded that the Central Government allow people to use the old currency notes of `500 and `1,000 so that they do not suffer any more.
No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the State during the day.