-The Indian Express For the poor, with little cash in the first place, digital promises to ‘swipe’ them out, before their marginalisation is even addressed. Demonetisation is, by its very nature, an autocratic, coercive step. The demonetisation of November 2016 has affected every single Indian. We are, as usual, persuaded to bear the pain and suffering, to “sacrifice” for the nation. The rhetoric continues but it now seems clear that the objective...

A press statement issued from the Right to Food Campaign on 27 December, 2016 says that the demonetisation of old currency notes of Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/- denomination wreaked havoc on the livelihood security of the poor people. The labouring and toiling masses, who are mostly engaged in the informal sector, have been adversely affected due to the scrapping of old currency notes of Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/-...

-The Telegraph Guwahati: The World Bank has warned the Assam government that the loan amount sanctioned for the Assam State Roads Project may be slashed if the pace of implementation does not improve by March 2017. In the implementation status and results report of the project, released on December 21, the Bank said the Assam State Roads Project is unlikely to achieve the project development objective due to poor progress and the...

-The Indian Express Three villages, with a combined population of about 5,000, have only one Bank and no ATM. Ambala: Chamanlal, 28, a barber in Bara village, does not have a debit card and has never seen a point-of-sale (PoS) machine. He charges Rs 20 for a haircut and Rs 10 for a shave — all in cash. He is among the few in the village who has a smartphone, but has...

-The Hindu Anger and frustration dominate discussions on demonetisation at a jan sunwai in Beawar, Rajasthan About five-six hundred people are crowded in and around a small shamiana-covered triangle, like the apex of the letter A. The two arms of the A are busy streets typical of small-town India, a press of pedestrians and two-wheelers punctuated with foraging cows, goats and impatient cars and tempos. Including the shopkeepers and hangers-on across the...