Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said normalcy has been restored within few weeks of the unprecedented decision to recall 86 per cent of the currency in circulation and there is no shortage of notes in market.
Currency note printing presses of Reserve Bank of India as well as Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) have worked without a break to remonetise by issuing new bank notes, he said.
Speaking at the 11th Foundation Day function of SPMCIL here, he said the easiest task during demonetisation was to pass comments and make snide remarks. "But the toughest work is to implement it. This is perhaps the biggest demonetisation drive in the world that was aimed at striking at the very root of corruption, black money and counterfeit currency," he said.
Stating that people often commented that it may take up to one year or at least seven months to restore normalcy, he said the task has been achieved within few weeks.
"Normalcy has been restored within few weeks and there is no shortage (of bank notes) in market for even a day," he said. And this has been achieved "without a single incident" of unrest anywhere in the country, he said adding this was possible because of exemplary work done by printing presses of RBI and SPMCIL who kept the supply line going.
"For long you have worked for 24 hours, without break and to complete it with efficiency," he told SPMCIL employees gathered on the occasion.