After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi, it's author Chetan Bhagat who took to Twitter to voice his opinion against demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, a step taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bid to curb corruption and existing black money in the country. In a series of tweets, Bhagat lashed out at the government saying that while the move maybe well-intentioned, it's execution is poor. "While demonetization might be well-intentioned, the poor execution such as empty ATMs may lead to a lot of suffering for ordinary citizens," he wrote. He also criticised the design of the new note which is incompatible with existing ATMs making it difficult for people to withdraw cash. "Wonder why the size of the new notes was changed, taking them unusable in existing ATMs, esp when secrecy meant u couldn't modify ATMs," he tweeted. Clearly worried about the government's image, he also said, "It will be sad if good idea to clean up economy becomes political negative for govt who did it. Will discourage. Hope execution fixed soon." When a user questioned his 'patriotism' as 'show off' after criticising the government, Bhagat told him, "Don't use patriotism as an excuse for bad operations research type planning. What's not going well has to be told, in national interest." Read all his tweets here. While demonetization might be well-intentioned, the poor execution such as empty ATMs may lead to a lot of suffering for ordinary citizens. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 To queue for several hours to find an empty ATM for Rs 2,000 of your own money is no fun. Execution of an idea as important as the idea. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 Incompatibility of notes, small limits, limited number of bank branches and the massive swapping required - did they run through scenarios? — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 I love my country. I am all for cleaning up economy. I am for big ideas,like demonetization. However, I also think execution is important. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 It will be sad if good idea to clean up economy becomes political negative for govt who did it. Will discourage. Hope execution fixed soon. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 People on twitter are digital savvy, comfortable with digital payments world. Most real sufferers of liquidity crunch not on social media. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 Wonder why the size of the new notes was changed, taking them unusable in existing ATMs, esp when secrecy meant u couldn't modify ATMs. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 Changed physical dimensions of notes made them incompatible with ATMs. No need to justify that mistake by saying stand in q for patriotism. — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 This was the mistake. To make notes pretty, they changed around the size. Purple Gandhi ji looks nice, but alas don't fit in 2 lakh ATMs! — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 World War II Rationing Picture. Something similar, at a bank branch near you. pic.twitter.com/7RJOJFncHy — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 12, 2016 Have something to add to the story? Tell us in the comments below.
