Indian lenders will mark people exchanging currency notes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned last week with indelible ink on their finger in an effort by the embattled administration to ease crowds thronging banks.
Millions have been lining up outside banks across India, prompting the government to announce a fresh set of measures to reduce queues. Authorities decided to mark individuals after lenders discovered that the same set of people were turning up at various bank branches to exchange cash, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said in New Delhi on Tuesday. Modi in a surprise move last week decided to withdraw 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes, which accounted for 86 percent of money in circulation, in a bid to flush out unaccounted income, locally known as black money.
