Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the party will move the court over the demonetisation related deaths, even as he extended his full support to the proposed strike by the industries over the issue on December 16.Addressing mediapersons here, Captain Amarinder said with 86% money pulled out of the market, the Indian economy was collapsing under the weight of the demonetisation problems across the country, including Punjab. Around 100 people had died standing in queues while thousands were otherwise suffering as a result of the cash crunch, he said, adding that the Punjab Congress would go to the court over the issue.Extending his support to the Chamber of Industrial & Commercial Undertakings (CICU), Ludhiana, Captain Amarinder said the impact of demonetisation on the state’s industries, already in the doldrums because of the Badal government’s antagonistic policies, had been devastating.Captain Amarinder said the Modi government’s ill-planned demonetisation move was virtually a criminal act, which had not only brought many lives to a tragic end but had rendered thousands of contractual employees and labourers in industries jobless.The CICU strike call, which is part of a nationwide industries bandh call against demonetisation, is a small step in the direction of highlighting the woes of the industries, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed to be blind, said Captain Amarinder.
In the past one month, thousands of workers in the industries had been laid off and even those who were still on the rolls had not been paid their salaries, Captain Amarinder pointed out, adding that the situation was critical as even those few units that had not fled the Badal government’s anti-industry were now closing down as a result of the cascading effect of demonetisation.The cash-crunched industries, which were also being harassed by the Income Tax authorities, had been hit by severe increase in raw material prices, with the currency shortage also impacting their purchasing capacity, said Captain Amarinder Singh.The Punjab Congress is committed to ensuring that the industries, which had already witnessed drastic growth decline under the 10 years of Badal rule, are brought back on track once the party comes to power. However, at the moment, the demonetisation menace is threatening to complete destroy the state’s industrial structure, which cannot be allowed, said Captain Amarinder, adding that all efforts would be made to help the industries overcome their current demonetisation-related woes.