"Financial Emergency" is how West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee described the move by the Central government to demonetize the Indian currency's five hundred and one thousand rupee notes. Since the announcement was made by the Narendra Modi government, she has launched a scathing verbal and written attack on the Center. Calling it a "draconian" act, she said it has thrown people's daily lives out of gear. "From fish markets to petrol pumps, people are being turned away because no one is accepting these currencies," she said. She even expressed concern about hospitals not accepting these currencies. She told reporters, " I hear that even patients who have been released were not being able to go home because they only had five hundred and one thousand rupee notes to pay with."