Even as the government took the decision to do away with the 500 and 1000 rupee notes on Tuesday evening, an online survey has revealed that majority of the population are in favor of this initiative to tackle the menace of black money and corruption.
An online survey conducted by LocalCicles, a community social media platform, during last week of October on corruption and black money revealed the public mood on the issue. Majority 78 % of the participants said that government should take such initiatives to replace Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
Government’s latest initiative against domestic black money was like a wish come true for the members of LocalCircles. “There were repeated suggestions from citizens on eliminating the 500 and 1000 rupee notes as well as changing their color. About 11,000 people participating in the online survey agreed that they are victims of corruption and black money,” said Sachin Tapadia, CEO, LocalCircles.
In the survey on steps to address the domestic black money, people were asked if the citizens supported changing the color of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. 78% citizens supported the scheme, 7% did not support and 15% said that they were unsure. As a follow on, citizens were asked how such a scheme should be implemented and various meaningful inputs were suggested.
Some of the inputs were rolling out such a scheme suddenly, setting up a mechanism for notes exchange so accounted money can be deposited in the bank as well as creating a nation building account at banks where people with black money can deposit it anonymously. “It was also proposed by the community that time till Dec 31st, 2016 should be given to deposit cash in the bank and the new notes should be introduced only after that,” said Tapadia.
Earlier this week, LocalCicles released India Corruption Poll 2016 covering the state of corruption across India with detailed local and national polls outlining what citizens felt about corruption. In this survey of over 15,000 citizens across 56 cities, 42% admitted paying a bribe. At the same time, 68% felt that India will see a significant reduction in corruption in the next 5 years.
Box: Survey report
Question: if the citizens supported changing the color of 500 and 1000 rupee notes or any other simila scheme to tackle black money.
78%: I support such a scheme
15 %: I am not sure
7%: I am against such a scheme
(Sample size: 11,000)