Demonetisation: Panel of Chief Ministers to hold first meeting on 2 December

The first meeting of the panel of Chief Ministers set up by the Centre to suggest measures to reduce the inconvenience to the people post the demonetisation drive will be held on 2 December.

The meeting will be hosted under the chairmanship of Andhra Pradesh's N Chandrababu Naidu.

Sources said the Chief Ministers of Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry and Bihar will also be present in the meeting.

In order to blunt the opposition on note ban, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday held talks with Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The Central government yesterday decided to form a sub-committee of Chief Ministers to deal with the demonetisation issue.

This come as a united opposition is leaving no stone unturned in taking potshots at the government post the decision.

Demanding that this decision should be rolled back for not being implemented properly, the opposition parties have also alleged that this exposed the 'anti-poor' stand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government as the general public is the worst hit.

So far, only two Chief Ministers - Bihar's Nitish Kumar and Odisha's Naveen Patnaik - have voiced their support for the Centre.

Nitish has said he supported the currency ban as he is "convinced" that it would help in the fight against black money while Patnaik has praised the move as a bold step.

The ruling BJP at the Centre is also facing the wrath of its alliance partners as the Shiv Sena has alleged that the implementation of demonetisation has not been done in an appropriate manner and said it is not only 'one party's monopoly' to end corruption.

The government has recommended the use of cashless methods of payment not only to tide over the cash shortage being experienced by people due to demonetisation but also to curb corruption and generation of black money in the future.

--ANI