Can Short-term Economic Policies Hurt the Health of the Poor? Demonetization in India

Abstract

In November 2016, the Government of India (GOI) demonetized the commonly used Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations. This was a short-term economic policy, known as notebandi, implemented as a means to address black money, counterfeit currencies, and terrorist activities. Notebandi was unrolled in a chaotic, confusing, and complex manner, leaving many people with limited access to cash in their daily activities. And the poor, who tend to earn their livelihoods from cash, were faced with economic exclusion and even destitution. In this paper, we argue that demonetization had disproportionately negative consequences on the poor and trace the main pathways between demonetization and the health of the poor. We conclude by calling on public health researchers to monitor and evaluate the health consequences of India’s latest demonetization and to rapidly assess future policy initiatives in order to help advise governments in devising and implementing economic policies that does not harm the health of people, especially the poor.