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New Century Publications Demonetization Digital India and Governance by Niranjan Sahoo & S Lohana
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has hailed India as a bright spot amidst a slowing global economy. The Indian economy has the potential to achieve a double-digit growth rate but, in spite of this, a host of problems confront it. These problems include: black money; corruption; money laundering; counterfeit currency; tax evasion; and terrorist financing. The new government, which took charge May 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, had a vision to make India a modern and vibrant economy. Policies and programs to rejuvenate the economy were announced in this regard and, due to this, the Government of India decided to withdraw the legal tender character of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series on November 8, 2016. These demonetized bank notes accounted for 86 percent of the country's cash supply. One major objective of the demonetization exercise is to encourage cashless/electronic transactions in the economy. The Government of India made the policy decision to encourage electronic transactions and has, in this regard, announced a number of incentives. The use of digital technology to improve governance cannot be over-emphasized. Digital technology has become the greatest agent of change and promises to play a role even more dramatically in future. Technology, competition, and benchmarking to the best international practices have to be the driving force of India's development efforts, and India's demonetization exercise needs to be seen in this perspective. *** "Investigates the demonetization of high denomination currency in India in 2016 in the context of the country's efforts to reduce corruption, money laundering, and counterfeiting and increase the country's ability to compete, taking advantage of digital technology and meeting economic benchmarks.... Sahoo is Associate Professor in the Department of Rural Management at the Xavier Institute of Social Service. Lohana is UGC-Dr. Radhakrishnan Postdoctoral Fellow in Humanities and Social Sciences with the School of Commerce and Management Sciences at Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University. Bibliography; index." --Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 55, No. 4, December 2017 [Subject: South Asian Studies, Economics]