Fact check: Will Modi govt demonetize Rs 2000 note on New Year?

Rumors about the discontinuation of Rs 2,000 note have been making rounds from the past several days now and Himachal Pradesh's Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur, has put it to rest on Tuesday.

A mischievously cropped picture of a fact-check article by Hindi daily Dainik Purvoday is making rounds on social media that showed the viral claim that people would not be able to exchange their Rs 2,000 notes after December 31.

The article published by Dainik Purvoday on December 1 is a fact-check article that aimed to bust the fake news that Rs 2,000 notes are being discontinued. In the clipping going viral, Dainik Purvoday had quoted the fake claim.

The claim in question said in Hindi that, "Reserve Bank of India is taking back Rs 2,000 notes. The notes would not be accepted by banks after 31st December 2019. You should start exchanging your 2,000 rupee notes. For now, notes worth only Rs 50,000 can be exchanged, which is why you should start exchanging your notes right now."

The claim also says that new Rs 1,000 notes would be issued by banks on January 1, 2020.

Dismissing reports that the government is set to withdraw Rs 2000 denomination note, Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said there was no need to worry about it. "This is the real worry (about demonetization) which has surfaced now. I think that you should not worry about it," Thakur told Rajya Sabha replying to a question on the government's plan to withdraw Rs 2000 note in the future.

SP member Vishambhar Prasad Nishad had said, "Black money has increased by the introduction of Rs 2000 denomination note. There is a misconception among people that you are going to introduce Rs 1000 denomination note again to replace Rs 2000 denomination note."

According to the reply, notes in circulation (NIC) as on November 4, 2016, were Rs 17,741.87 billion which have now increased to Rs 22,356.48 billion as on December 2, 2019.

The NIC had grown at an average growth rate of 14.51 percent year on year-wise since October 2014 till October 2016. At this rate, NIC would have increased to Rs 25,402.53 billion as of December 2, 2019.

As actual NIC on November 25, 2019, is only Rs 22,356.48 billion, demonetization followed by digitalization and reduction of cash use in the informal economy has succeeded in reducing NIC by as much as Rs 3046.05 billion, it added.