Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lead his Cabinet colleagues in a sit-in in front of the office of the RBI here to protest against the 'raw deal' extended to the state's cooperatives post-demonetisation.
Speaking to newspersons here, he charged that the Centre had gone back on its promise to him that the cooperatives would be allowed to exchange demonetised notes for new ones.
'ACTING IN TANDEM'
Subsequent to this, the RBI had issued orders barring cooperatives from participating in the currency exchange programme, putting them out of sync with depositors in the rural areas.
By acting in tandem, the Centre and the RBI had displayed their prejudice against the cooperatives as part of a conspiracy hatched by the local unit of the BJP.
He dismissed the BJP charge that the cooperatives had offered themselves as safe havens for money laundered by the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) when it ruled the state.
BACKBONE OF ECONOMY
The Chief Minister said the cooperative sector is the backbone of the state's agrarian economy and any move to weaken it would put its already poor economic health to further stress.
He said the government would convene an all-party meeting on November 21 (Monday) to decide the future course of action.
The day-long sit-in will start 10 am and end at 5 pm, and would mark the fifth consecutive day that the regional RBI office would come under siege by protesters drawn from various organisations.
The Chief Minister said the Opposition had promised full support to the state government's stand on arguing the case of cooperatives with the Centre in the current circumstances.