Will fast-track demonetisation draft adoption: Veerappa Moily

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily, who has been re-nominated for a rare fourth consecutive term as chairman of the important Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance, has said he will now fast-track the adoption of his pending draft report on demonetisation by the committee.

Moily’s push for getting the 41-page draft report adopted during the last meeting of the committee in August end, just two days before his third term ended, was halted by some members who asked for more time. This draft report among other things states “the committee finds that the anticipated benefits of this (demo) exercise vis-a-vis the associated costs are not yet visible”.

“I have called a meeting of the newly-reconstituted standing committee next week to decide on the list of the agenda to be taken up. I intend to fast-track the adoption of the report on demonetisation since the draft report has already been circulated among members,” Moily told ET. Another pending report which he intends to push for is the one on the new methodology on measuring GDP, he said.

The Congress, which usually allows only a maximum of three consecutive terms for its members to hold the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee and Standing Committee on Finance, had made an exception in Moily’s case as many party leaders cited “the advanced work” he had done on the draft report. The draft report may now be updated to include observations on the RBI data, showing that 99% of demonetised currency returned to banks, which was not available when the draft report was prepared and circulated.

The draft report had cited the non-availability of that information as a problem in making an accurate assessment on the impact of demonetisation.