The RBI has refuted reports that it is considering replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi on certain currency with prominent figures such as Abdul Kalam and Rabindranath Tagore
Representational Image. ANI
Is the RBI planning to replace the face of Mahatma Gandhi on currency with prominent figures such as Rabindranath Tagore and Abdul Kalam?
Absolutely not, the central bank said on Monday.
This comes after reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of prominent figures such as Rabindranath Tagore and Abdul Kalam.
What did the bank say?
“It may be noted that there is no such proposal in the Reserve Bank,” it said.
The RBI tweeted:
“There are reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others. It may be noted that there is no such proposal in the Reserve Bank,” RBI’s chief general manager Yogesh Dayal told Moneycontrol.
What was reported earlier?
The bank statement came after New Indian Express reported that the central bank and the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) had sent two sample sets of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and former president Abdul Kalam to IIT-Delhi Emeritus professor Dilip T Shahani, who is responsible for selecting and submitting watermarks to the government for final approval.
“The Father of the Nation’s watermark figure occupies the pride of place on all denominations of Indian currency notes. However, the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are also reportedly considering using the watermark figures of Tagore and Kalam on a new series of banknotes of some denominations,” the report stated.
The report said this was being considered so as to include watermarks of multiple figures on different currency notes – much like the US.
America has images of some of its Founding Fathers – George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Alexander Hamilton and a few 19th-Century presidents, including Abraham Lincoln – on its currency.
All Indian banknotes bear the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi as well as the symbol of Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar.
As per Hindustan Times, the RBI first released Re 1 notes with Gandhi’s photo on it to commemorate the hundredth birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation in 1969. In 1987, INR500 notes were re-introduced with Gandhi’s picture on it, as per the report.
It was only in 1996, the report added, that the Gandhi series was issued, thereby replacing all the Indian banknotes that were issued till then.
Meanwhile, NDTV reported that the central bank’s annual report stated that the number of banknotes of Rs 2,000 denomination has steadily declined over the years. It comprised only 1.6 percent, or Rs 214 crore, of the total currency note sin circulation by March-end, as per the report.
Meanwhile, the number of Rs 500 notes in circulation rose to 4,554.68 crore by March-end as compared to 3,867.90 crore recorded in the year-ago period, as per the report.
With inputs from agencies
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