In what effectively turned out to be one of the biggest public inconveniences in Indian history, consequences and implications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ban on old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes issued on November 8 last year, refuse to die down. While the dust has settled on the issue, and Indian residents have finally come to terms with the change, those settled abroad continue to struggle with their banned currency notes.
It has yet again been brought to light, that while the Reserve Bank of India made arrangements for NRIs to exchange their cash, they overlooked People of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). An RBI FAQ distinctly states that the amendment is only applicable to Indian passport holders. "In terms of Paragraph 4.1 of the GoI Ordinance No. 10 of 2016 dated December 30, 2016 on 'The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities), a facility for exchange of SBNs is made available for the resident and non-resident Indian citizens (Indian passport required) who could not avail the facility from November 10 to December 30, 2016 on account of their absence from India during the aforementioned period.'"
To elucidate the matter, Point 6 of the FAQ reads, "Is the facility available to Overseas Citizens of India (OCI)/Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)? No, the facility is not available to people who are not Indian citizen." Apparently, the Indian government has left OCI and PIOs hanging with no means to exchange their dead cash.
The government's disposition for those not present in the country during the period of the notification was in a real sense, not of much help either, and only added to people's woes. Non Resident Indians braced long queues, much to their chagrin to exchange the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. The RBI had designated 5 specific central bank branches- Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur, across the country for the deed. Soon enough, tempers ran high, and the administration's flip-flop came to notice. Several people who had travelled long distances to reach the allotted branches, were denied entry by guards who claimed they were not carrying requisite documents.
Hundreds of complaints were made, by NRIs who were not allowed to speak to officials and at least express their grievances. Ritu Diwan, a US national said, "Though I have a foreign passport, I still have roots in India. Our family comes to India every year. We have few Indian currency notes and we want to exchange them but we are not allowed to enter RBI. Mr Prime Minister are we supposed to burn Indian currency that we have?" She also said that the harassment indicated that PIOs are not welcome to the country of their birth any more. Eventually, many PIOs returned empty handed, furious at the RBI's "high-handedness".
When contacted, KH Patel, Chairman, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry NRG Centre, said, "It is true that the government policy for changing the old currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 into new currency is only for NRIs, i.e., for Indian passport holders. According to me, the policy should have covered all PIOs as well, irrespective of the passports they hold. As a member of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin, we have taken up the matter with the government and asked to cover all PIOs in the scheme. Unfortunately, so far we have not received any positive response from the government."
Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar Publisher/Editor CB Patel, had personally met Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani during his visit to India earlier this year, and expressed his apprehensions over the lack of proper arrangements on RBI's part. CM Rupani had even called the Finance Ministry in New Delhi in CB's presence, and asked the official to help NRGs by making required facilities available. CB had explained how Indians settled abroad have been facing innumerable troubles due to the unavailability of solid planning on the government's behalf. He even wrote a letter to the CM recently, putting forth suggestions to ease the entire process of exchanging banned notes. In the letter, the editor stated that there are branches of several Indian banks, functioning in Britain. If they are authorised to accept the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, things would become much easier for people from the Indian Community settled there. For possibilities of any kind of malpractice, CB suggested that provisions to endorse Indian passport could be made.
Granted, the move came as the Government's attack on corruption and black money, the exclusion of PIOs came as a surprise given the current administration's soft spot for the overseas Indian community.