KUWAIT: V M Sudheeran, president of Kerala state’s Congress committee meets with Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Al-Humoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah.

KUWAIT: The India government's shock decision to demonetize 500- and 1,000-rupee banknotes without 'proper homework' has wrought havoc across the country, and ordinary people are struggling to pay for their basic goods and needs, said a visiting Congress leader from India on Sunday.

The worst-ever disruption to cash transactions in India comes in the wake of the announcement last Tuesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi banning the two large denomination notes with a view to bring billions of dollars of unaccounted wealth into the mainstream economy and curb large-scale corruption in the country. However, the decision triggered an unprecedented cash crunch in the country, with ATMs running dry and banks failing to dispense money.

"The move was ill-conceived, ill-thought-out and politically motivated. The situation is becoming worse with every passing day," V M Sudheeran, president of Kerala state's Congress committee, said at a press conference. The abrupt measure was fraught with serious consequences for an essentially rural economy that is largely powered by cash, he said, urging the India government, the Reserve Bank of India, the ministry of finance and other concerned policymakers to find an immediate solution to the crisis before the situation deteriorates any further. "The authorities must act on a war footing to find a solution to the crisis," Sudheeran said.

He said there is also a concerted move to wreck the cooperative movement in the state under the pretext of black money eradication, which will badly hurt farmers and the rural economy. Sudheeran, voicing dismay at the Indian government's decision to scrap the ministry of overseas Indian affairs when it came to power nearly two years ago, said the Indian expatriate community must get a fair deal from the Indian authorities.

High airfares

The visiting Indian leader admitted the fact that the governments in India over the years have failed to solve the persistent problem of exorbitant airfares levied by Indian carriers in the Gulf region. "We have to make continuous efforts and interventions to find a solution to the problem that is affecting the expatriate community in the region," he remarked. He said his party is keeping up pressure on both India and Kerala governments to develop a rehabilitation project for Indians who return to the state from the Gulf in large numbers.

Sudheeran arrived in Kuwait on a three-day visit to attend a conference of the Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC). He called on Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Al-Humoud Al-Malek Al-Sabah and discussed issues pertaining to the Indian community in Kuwait. "It is gratifying to note that the Kuwaiti authorities are by and large happy with the Indian community in Kuwait which is the largest expat community in the country," he said. KPCC treasurer Johnson Abraham, Secretary Mannar Abdullateef and OICC president Varghese Puthukulangara were also present during the press conference.

By Sajeev K Peter