Image for representation. AP/FilePrime minister Narendra Modi’s decision to pull out the currency notes of 500 and 1000 from circulation has come as a shock to most of us, but this is not the first time large currencies are being withdrawn on short notice.
Similar measures were taken in 1946 when currency notes of 1000 and 10000 were withdrawn. In 1954, the government reintroduced 1000 and 10000, along with 5000 rupee notes. Later in 1978, the Janata Party coalition government demonetized the notes of 1000, 5000 and 10000 in a bid to curb forgery and black money.
However, the 1000-rupee currency made a comeback in 2000. The 500 rupee banknotes were first introduced in October, 1987 in order to contain the volume of banknotes in circulation due to inflation.
While Modi has announced that new 500 and 2000 rupee notes will be issued from Thursday, the fate of our dear 1000-rupee note is still undetermined.
The government of India introduced its first paper money under British Raj in 1861. In 1938, the Reserve Bank of India began printing currencies under the denominations of 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 while the government kept issuing Re 1 notes.
After independence, the portrait of the king was replaced with new designs. The government continued issuing the Re 1 note, while the Reserve Bank issued other denominations, including the currencies of 5,000 and 10,000, which were introduced in 1949.
During the 1970s, currency notes of 20 and 50 were introduced. In 1995, the government discontinued the notes of Re 1 and Rs 2.
In September 2009, the RBI decided to introduce polymer bank notes. In 2013, polymer currency note of Rs 10 was introduced in five cities – Shimla, Kochi, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Mysore. According to the RBI officials, the polymer notes will have an average lifespan of five years and will be difficult to counterfeit.
The current series of banknotes was first introduced in 1996 and is known as the Mahatma Gandhi series.
