The number of deaths allegedly caused owing to the government’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has reached 33 since the policy came into effect last week, according to reports. Among the deceased are senior citizens who had to wait for hours in queues at banks, infants who died because their parents didn’t have new currency notes to pay for treatment and numerous others who committed suicide owing to shock following the Prime Minister’s announcement. It must be added here that it in some cases it is difficult to draw a direct relation to some of the deaths that occurred after demonetisation to the policy change.

The hardship and desperation that underlines these deaths, however, seem to be lost on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty, who, when asked for comment on the deaths said “kuchh pane ke liye, kuchh khona padta hai (to gain something, you have to lose something)”. Shetty rationalised his remark, saying “every year, 3,500 commuters die on railway tracks, five lakh people are killed in road accidents, many more die in terror attacks and other incidents, but nobody speaks about them”. Drawing a parallel between deaths caused by poor implementation of a government policy and those caused by terror attacks and accidents is perfectly valid, at least for Shetty.

While the Congress demanded that action should be taken against Shetty for his insensitive comment, Shiv Sena (an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra) spokesperson Arvind Sawant termed Shetty’s remarks as “far from ground reality”.