Modi’s key aide blames poor planning for India’s currency crisis

A member of parliament and one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top aides has blamed poor planning and execution by the government for the banknote crisis that has engulfed India, with tens of thousands of people queueing up outside banks and empty ATMs following New Delhi’s decision to replace large-denomination notes with new ones.

“I am appalled by the lack of preparation,” said Subramanian Swamy in an exclusive interview to This Week in Asia. A dogged crusader against corruption, who is often called India’s Trump for his campaign against the high and the mighty and serial muckraking, said Modi’s banknote ban was expected as fighting “black money” – as unaccounted wealth is called in India – was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) key electoral plank.

“We have been in power for nearly two and a half years. The finance ministry should have prepared for this from the very first day. It is easy to argue that the ministry was not in the loop, but that is no excuse for not having a contingency plan,” said Swamy, adding that only Modi would have known about the ban decision as sharing it within the party or the government would have robbed it of its effectiveness.

“Ad hoc roadside kiosks should have been set up for all and special kiosks organised for senior citizens. All these should have been planned as part of a contingency plan.”