Source: Economic Times
By Ravish Tiwari, ET Bureau | 31 Dec, 2015, 06.58AM IST
NEW DELHI: Make space — Mahatma, Vivekananda and Ambedkar may join you. If a proposal made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by an academic and policy maven, who was amember of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council at one time, gets enough high-powered backing, Indian currency notes may feature images of not just MK Gandhi but also those of BR Ambedkar and Swami Vivekananda.
Whose image appears on currency notes of a country is a matter of high policy and considerable deliberation. Since 1996, all rupee notes carry only Gandhi's image. A change in this would be a major step.
But that's what Narendra Jadhav, who was not just an NAC member when Congress was in power but also a member of the now-defunct Planning Commission, had suggested to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jadhav is one of the six nongovernment members of the PM-chaired National Committee for Celebration of the 125th Birth Anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
Jadhav confirmed this to ET, saying: "I made this suggestion to the prime minister during the first meeting of the committee. I said that currencies of the US and the UK have pictures of several figures and that could be done in India as well. We can have other founding fathers, specifically BR Ambedkar, and Swami Vivekananda on our currency notes." He said whether his suggestion will find full acceptance is something only time can answer, but noted that "there was a commemorative coin on Dr Ambedkar issued by the government recently".
Jadhav made the case for Ambedkar by saying the latter was "a monetary economist par excellence" and had given "considerable intellectual inputs" for the "establishment of RBI". "Keeping this in mind, it would be a good gesture to have Dr Ambedkar on Indian currency notes," he argued.
Jadhav has worked extensively on Ambedkar and is said to be on friendly terms with the NDA dispensation. He was once considered close to Congress leaders too and, interestingly, is the only NAC member who has found any substantive role in the BJP-led government.
BJP has made considerable efforts to champion Ambedkar's role. A special two-day Parliament session was held recently to discuss the Constitution and to note the centrality of Ambedkar in drafting the Constitution.
Congress had then prevailed on the government to incorporate names of other notables, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad, in the parliamentary resolution. Swami Vivekananda's legacy has also been the focus of political battles.
BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar have argued the Swami's legacy needs reemphasis and re-celebration, while critics of BJP have argued this is part of a larger political plan by the party and the parivar.
These political realities mean any change that abolishes the Mahatma image's monopoly on currency notes' design will likely be highly contested. Prior to 1996, rupee notes carried images of the Mahatma as well as other images, the Ashoka Pillar, for example. The last two decades have seen only Gandhi on rupee notes.
By Ravish Tiwari, ET Bureau | 31 Dec, 2015, 06.58AM IST
NEW DELHI: Make space — Mahatma, Vivekananda and Ambedkar may join you. If a proposal made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by an academic and policy maven, who was amember of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council at one time, gets enough high-powered backing, Indian currency notes may feature images of not just MK Gandhi but also those of BR Ambedkar and Swami Vivekananda.
Whose image appears on currency notes of a country is a matter of high policy and considerable deliberation. Since 1996, all rupee notes carry only Gandhi's image. A change in this would be a major step.
But that's what Narendra Jadhav, who was not just an NAC member when Congress was in power but also a member of the now-defunct Planning Commission, had suggested to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Jadhav is one of the six nongovernment members of the PM-chaired National Committee for Celebration of the 125th Birth Anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
Jadhav confirmed this to ET, saying: "I made this suggestion to the prime minister during the first meeting of the committee. I said that currencies of the US and the UK have pictures of several figures and that could be done in India as well. We can have other founding fathers, specifically BR Ambedkar, and Swami Vivekananda on our currency notes." He said whether his suggestion will find full acceptance is something only time can answer, but noted that "there was a commemorative coin on Dr Ambedkar issued by the government recently".
Jadhav made the case for Ambedkar by saying the latter was "a monetary economist par excellence" and had given "considerable intellectual inputs" for the "establishment of RBI". "Keeping this in mind, it would be a good gesture to have Dr Ambedkar on Indian currency notes," he argued.
Jadhav has worked extensively on Ambedkar and is said to be on friendly terms with the NDA dispensation. He was once considered close to Congress leaders too and, interestingly, is the only NAC member who has found any substantive role in the BJP-led government.
BJP has made considerable efforts to champion Ambedkar's role. A special two-day Parliament session was held recently to discuss the Constitution and to note the centrality of Ambedkar in drafting the Constitution.
Congress had then prevailed on the government to incorporate names of other notables, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Azad, in the parliamentary resolution. Swami Vivekananda's legacy has also been the focus of political battles.
BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar have argued the Swami's legacy needs reemphasis and re-celebration, while critics of BJP have argued this is part of a larger political plan by the party and the parivar.
These political realities mean any change that abolishes the Mahatma image's monopoly on currency notes' design will likely be highly contested. Prior to 1996, rupee notes carried images of the Mahatma as well as other images, the Ashoka Pillar, for example. The last two decades have seen only Gandhi on rupee notes.
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