The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that it is not considering bringing changes to the existing Mahatma Gandhi series of currency notes.
“There are reports in certain sections of the media that the RBI is considering changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others. It may be noted that there is no such proposal in the Reserve Bank,” the RBI in a press statement.
According to some reports, the photos of Rabindranath Tagore and former President APJ Abdul Kalam, also known as the Missile Man, were under consideration on a new series of banknotes of some denominations.
A report, first published in the New Indian Express, claimed that the changes were being implemented. “The Father of the Nation’s watermark figure occupies the pride of place on all denominations of Indian currency notes. However, the Finance Ministry and the RBI are also reportedly considering using the watermark figures of Tagore and Kalam on a new series of banknotes of some denominations,” the report said.
The June 5 report also claimed that the RBI and the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) had sent “two separate sets of samples of Gandhi, Tagore and Kalam watermarks to IIT Delhi Emeritus Professor Dilip T Shahani”.
The newspaper quoted government sources as saying that Prof. Shahani was asked to choose from the designs and submit them to the government for final consideration.
There have been speculations in the past of imprinting the photos of other famous personalities besides Mahatma Gandhi on Indian currency notes, but this was the first time that newspapers had published such reports with such conviction, and the RBI had to subsequently come out with a clarification on the same.
Mahatma Gandhi’s image was first seen on the Rs 500 note introduced in October 1987, though the watermark continued to be the Lion Capital from the Ashokan Pillar. With the advancement of reprographic techniques, traditional security features were deemed inadequate, and consequently, a new series titled the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Series’ was introduced in 1996. A changed watermark, windowed security thread, latent image, and intaglio features for the visually-handicapped were amongst the new features.
The new series also witnessed the introduction of the Rs 1,000 denomination note on October 9, 2000. Subsequently, on November 18, 2,000, Rs 500 denomination note was issued in changed colour, incorporating colour-shifting ink in the numeric value at the centre as an additional security feature.
In 2005, the Mahatma Gandhi series notes witnessed enhanced security features, such as wide colour shifting machine-readable magnetic windowed security thread in notes of Rs 100 and above denomination. These included back-to-back numeric registration in place of flower design as an identification mark. No change was made to the ID mark in Rs 5 denomination note, though.
The RBI in its annual report has stated that the number of bank notes of Rs 2,000 denomination has steadily declined over the years to touch Rs 214 crore or 1.6 per cent of the total currency notes in circulation by March-end this year.
In value terms too, the Rs 2,000 denomination notes dipped from 22.6 per cent of the total value of currency notes in circulation to 17.3 per cent by March-end 2021, and further to 13.8 per cent by March-end 2022.
As per the annual report, the number of notes in circulation in denomination of Rs 500 increased to Rs 4,554.68 crore by March-end as against Rs 3,867.9 crore in the year-ago period.
At present, RBI issues banknotes in denominations of Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500, and Rs 2,000. The coins in circulation are here as follows: 50 paisa, Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20 denominations.
