Puthiya Tamizhagam president, Dr K. Krishnasamy today demanded a white paper on the quantity of release of new Rs.2,000 and Rs.500 notes and the reason for supplying them through three private banks, instead of nationalised banks.

“In view of the statements from the officials from the Finance Ministry and RBI that nearly five lakh crore worth new currencies have been released for circulation, the public are still in short of such notes, resulting in heavy loss to the traders, poor and middle class people,” Krishnasamy told reporters here.

What was the necessity for the RBI to release such a huge amount through private banks such as Axis, ICICI and HDFC instead of SBI, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank and other nationalised banks, where 90 per cent of the population have accounts, he said.

Stating that this ‘blunder’ by RBI has created the confusion and making the people run from one ATM to another and from one bank to another to get their hard earned money, he demanded a white paper on the reason for releasing the money through private banks, which were said to be close to larger corporates.

Though the intention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was good, which could help in preventing corruption, to control black money and terrorists activities, the Government was not prepared to face the challenges, like being witnessed at present, as it skidded in implementation part of the scheme, Krishnasamy said.

Reacting to reports on seizure of nearly Rs.2 crore worth new notes and arrest of a few persons from near a bank on the campus of an educational institution in the city, he said that this was the result of the mistake releasing through private banks.