Demonetisation done in the year 1946
The first demonetisation in the country took place in the year 1946. You will be surprised to know that this demonetisation was done during the British Empire. Sir Archibald Wavell, the Viceroy and Governor General of India, proposed an ordinance on 12 January 1946 to demonetise high currency bank notes. After 13 days i.e. from 12 midnight on January 26, high currency notes of Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 10000 issued during the British era were out of circulation. Before independence, notes above Rs 100 were banned. At that time the government had taken this decision to bring back the black money deposited with the people. It was believed that merchants in India at that time had amassed huge wealth by importing goods to friendly countries and were hiding the profits from the Income Tax Department.
Demonetisation in 1978 to eliminate black money
Demonetisation was also done in the year 1978 after getting independence from the British to eliminate black money in the country. This was the first demonetisation of independent India. It was also done to eliminate black money, curb corruption and strengthen the economy. In 1978, the Morarji Desai government had demonetized high-value notes. During this time when the notes were demonetized, the situation was more or less the same as in 2016. According to the reports published in the newspapers of that time, people had to face a lot of problems. On 16 January 1978, the Janata Party-led government had announced the demonetisation of Rs 1000, Rs 5000 and Rs 10,000 notes. The government had decided to keep all the banks and their branches apart from the government’s treasuries closed for transactions on January 17, the next day after the announcement of this demonetisation.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
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