Methods to check Fake Currency Notes

Fake currency notes worth lakhs of Indian Rupees have been recovered from the passengers coming from Pakistan, through Samjhauta Express. Earlier also, people travelling through this train and also by bus service (Sada-E-Sarhad) from Pakistan have been caught red-handed with lots of smuggled counterfeit currency. Apart from this, occasional instances also come to light where some other people of dubious character within India have been caught along with machines etc. required for printing of fake Indian currency notes.

2. It is really a matter of grave concern that the people who smuggle / float fake currency notes in market have rarely been duly punished. Even otherwise, it is general conception amongst the people that anti-social elements / wrong-doers of any nature often get scot free in one way or the other and hardly 10-15% criminals get their due share of punishment. The reason is simple - corruption at various levels and huge amount of pressures / influences of all sorts to get the criminals released, rather than putting them behind the bars or hanging to death for the heinous crime committed.

3. It also forms a part of the facts that rule of law does not apply equal to all. Children of rich and the famous hardly care for the law-book. Their matters are often decided by the money and muscle power. Due to prevalence of such a scenario, all sorts of crimes take place in our country and it is the common people in society who have to suffer in silence. If some honest, sincere people and the conscience keepers of the society make some concerted efforts aimed at cleansing the system, some politicians at the behest of the rich & the powerful try their best to scuttle the mission by influencing the course of law for the criminals, which ultimately results in miscarriage of justice for the rest of the society.

4. Further, regarding circulation/ smuggling of fake currency notes which try to derail Indian economy (even though at micro level), I would like to suggest a few steps / measures which would help in arresting fake currency notes, such as -

5. On all our currency notes except one and two rupee, picture of Mahatma Gandhi adores, for the last sixty years, as per policy decision of Govt. of India / RBI. India is a great country and our five thousand years old civilisation, is a witness to the fact that thousands of great men and women have taken birth on this great and pious land and have done many great deeds and made the life of ordinary people easier. These great people such as - Guru Nanak Dev ji, Mahatma Buddha, Sant Kabir, Maharishi Valmiki, Tulsi Das, Ashoka the Great, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Shivaji Maratha, Swami Viveka Nand, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh etc. have really put great and Herculean efforts in their respective fields and made the people feel proud by improving their social & economic conditions; by the virtue of their services rendered. Apart from this list, there are some great scientists as well who have achieved great successes in their respective fields.

6. Keeping in view the great deeds done by these great people, I would like to suggest that Govt. of India / RBI should shortlist around 20 to 25 great people from the category of saints & sages, social reformers, secular rulers, great scholars and scientists etc. and print currency notes of different denominations by changing the designs and making the pictures of the above mentioned great people adore different currency notes. It should also be ensured that the pictures of the great people printed on the fresh series of notes are changed after every five years.

7. By doing so, we shall not only be paying obeisance to these great personalities, but it shall also go a long way in preventing counterfeiting of currency notes, as the anti-social elements will find it much difficult to clone fakes of these new avatars of currency notes. It shall be certainly better to print currency notes by making the pictures of different great people on it rather than only of one person for such a long period. It is also imperative to mention here that some other countries also print their currency notes by publishing pictures of their great men / scientists as well. Secondly, we can also print pictures of our national heritage buildings like India Gate, Gateway of India, Char Minar, Red Fort and Howrah Bridge etc. on the reverse side of these notes.

8. And last, but not the least, the rate of conviction of all types of criminals / offenders / miscreants etc. (including dealers in counterfeit currency notes), shall have to be increased manifold, as only awarding of strict punishments serve as a real deterrent to the sick / perverted minds in any society. It should be borne in mind that like a proxy war of terrorism, it is also a form of war against the economy of a country. The society should not be allowed to suffer because of such bad elements.