Kejriwal's demand doomed? 'Only Gandhiji on Indian currency notes', ruled RBI in 2010
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Oct, 2022 12:26 PM
Mumbai, Oct 26 (IANS) Amidst the 'unholy' row kicked up by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to include photos of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on Indian Currency Notes, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Centre had already put a lid on the issue way back in 2010.
An RTI reply to this effect on the Indian Currency Note (ICN) was sent by the Department of Economic Affairs' Additional Secretary Manisha Sinha to a Pune businessman Prafful Sarda in 2019.
The government said that a high-level panel (October 2010) constituted by the RBI had deliberated at length on the need for inclusion of other eminent personalities, Bharat Ratnas, Nobel laureates, freedom fighters or sports persons on the ICN design.
The High-Level Screening Committee - set up on the advice of the then Government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh - felt that "no other personality could better represent the ethos of India better than Mahatma Gandhi".
"Therefore, it was decided to retain the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on the obverse of banknotes and on the watermark. Government has approved the recommendation," declared the RTI reply of November 11, 2019, sent from the North Block.
"I had asked the PMO to consider printing the photos of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar or Sardar Patel on the ICN after which the government gave the reply and the matter rested. It proves that the Delhi CM has only vested political motives behind his latest demand," Sarda said.
The plea to the PMO was in view of the various demands to add pictures of other personalities on ICNs that keep cropping up frequently, he added.
Later, a former MP of All India Trinamool Congress and former cricketer Kirti Azad had raised the issue in Parliament for including other prominent personalities on the ICNs, but the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had cited the RBI panel's report in response.
As Kejriwal faces flak now, Maharashtra Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe hit out saying the 'IIT graduate' Delhi CM was 'pontificating like a pandit or soothsayer' with his ridiculous suggestions.
"Why doesn't he talk about all his unfulfilled promises, or the failures of the BJP government in the past over eight years, instead of coming up with such meaningless ideas to solve the country's economic crises," Londhe added sharply.
Taking a swipe at Kejriwal, state Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant cautioned that if it happens, "then the currency notes with pictures of Gods and Goddesses will be circulated in bars, abattoirs, fish markets or non-vegetarian restaurants, then what will you do?"
Shiv Sena Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari said that while the BJP supporters may not object to this, "what's the guarantee that this measure will solve all the ills of the country like inflation, unemployment, economic mess, etc., perpetrated by the BJP for so many years".
On the other hand, an NRI from the US, Ketan Kakkad feels that "nothing is wrong per se with Kejriwal's demand", especially since the world's largest Islamic country Indonesia has a photo of Lord Ganesh on its 'Rupiah' currency notes, though the Hindu population there is only three per cent of the total.
"My question to Kejriwal is - along with Lord Ganesha's photos, why don't you also propose religious symbols/photos of other Indian minority communities like Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Jains, etc., which account for 20 per cent of the total population here? I am sure even the BJP, RSS or AIMIM won't object to this," said Kakkad.
Adopting a 'wait-and-watch' attitude, the Nationalist Congress Party has decided to maintain a 'divine' silence over the Kejriwal political fracas - for the present.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the farmers' group, submitted before a bench headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that road blockade would end, if permission is granted to continue the protest either at Ramlila Maidan or Jantar Mantar.
Farmers protesting on the Ghazipur border at Delhi for the last 11 months against the three farm laws enacted by the Centre last year, have started to open the service lane to ease the traffic. They said it is the police who have closed the road and not them. Farmers belonging to the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Thursday started removing the tents built on the service road to start the traffic movement.
Two days after announcing to launch his own political outfit to serve the interests of the people, two-time Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday slammed AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, saying the party has damaged its own interests by not trusting him and giving the party into the hands of an 'unstable person' like Navjot Sidhu.
The data comes on a day when India reached the milestone of 100 crore vaccinations, and demonstrates that lack of vaccine hesitancy has played a big role in achieving this number.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing Singh, submitted his client has been in jail for the past two years, and added that his custody is not required, as two charge sheets have already been filed.
Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for delay in recording statements of witnesses before a judicial magistrate in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, where eight persons were killed, and also told the state government to dispel the impression that it is dragging its feet in the matter.
