The Haryana Chief Minister (CM), Manohar Lal Khattar, has strongly dismissed the allegations levelled by the Opposition describing demonetisation as a scam and an effort to benefit the millionaires by enabling them to convert their black money into white.

Speaking at a seminar organised on Wednesday to mark the completion of one year of demonetisation, Khattar said this reform had been made possible due to the political will of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his tirade against the black money and corruption would continue.

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Describing black money as the money which is anonymous and unaccounted for, he said even anonymous property fell in the category of black money as it was earned through black money. Though implementation of any reform without any intimation could initially make people feel uneasy but it proves to be useful in the long run, the CM added.

Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon and various steps are being taken to eliminate it from the society. But it is a continuous process and cannot be rooted out in a single day. Even after 70 years of Independence, the value of our currency is not good as compared to dollar and this is due to the lack of a proper system.

The vision of the Prime Minister is very clear and besides demonetization, Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Yojna and Goods and Services Tax are among the other important steps he has taken to eradicate corruption, ensure transparency and simplify structure, Khattar said.

Post-demonetization, the incidents of stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir have declined by 75 per cent and the incidents of Naxal violence by 20 per cent. Apart from this, the number of tax payers has increased by 26.5 per cent and e-returns have increased by 28 per cent. Digital transactions in 2016 which aggregated Rs 87 crore, had increased to Rs 138 crore in 2017-18. Similarly, the number of Point of Sale (PoS) devices has increased from 15 lakh to Rs 28 lakh in one year, he said.

He said in ‘’Notebandi’’, only the currency was changed as a result of which huge amount of black money came out. Banks have been able to increase their deposits and the revenue of the Centre and state governments has increased considerably.