New currency design to check black money

The finance ministry plans to phase out the varied looks of Indian currency notes by giving them a makeover. A committee appointed by the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will soon give green signal to RBI for approving a new design for currency notes. It follows the introduction of the rupee symbol that got Cabinet approval last year. The catch in the plan is it will involve a gradual recall of the old currency notes without creating a panic in the market. The recall is where black money can be tracked very effectively.  The finance ministry officials are clear this should not be seen as demonetisation. But they acknowledge that a plan to replace the old currency, will definitely impact those who have stashed away currency in high denomination notes.  The reason to upgrade and make uniform the look of the Indian currency has been felt for a long time. For instance, two kinds of ten rupee notes are in circulation at present. These are the older white series and the more current orange coloured ones.  Since both are valid, though the latter has improved security features, it has been possible for counterfeiters to push through the older ones and get away with it. The introduction of the new design, officials feel, will not solve the counterfeiting problem unless all notes from the older series is phased out and a date set for them to cease as legal tenders.  This will not be the first time the Indian government will recall a set of currency notes. The last time it was done as a clear anti-black money operation in the seventies.  While the problem of counterfeiting has been there over the years, it is now that the RBI and the finance ministry feels that they have got a grasp over the solution.  The possibility of using it to track black money too has made the plan more attractive. It has also been helped by the incorporation of the new public sector company, SPMCIL, that has taken over and modernised all currency notes and mints across the country, in 2008.