RBI rejects claims of replacing Gandhi’s face with Tagore, Kalam in banknotes

Written by Sharangee Dutta | Edited by Aryan Prakash, New Delhi

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday dismissed reports of Mahatma Gandhi’s picture being replaced with other prominent personalities in the existing currency and banknotes.What was the claim?Earlier, many reports claimed that the Union finance ministry and the RBI were considering to replace the face of Gandhi with other prominent Indians, including Rabindranath Tagore and APJ Abdul Kalam, on the banknotes of certain denominations.What did the RBI say?In a statement, the central bank said that there is no such proposal to make changes to the existing currency and banknotes by replacing the face of Mahatma Gandhi with that of others.“There are reports in certain sections of the media that the Reserve Bank of India 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 statement read.

When did Gandhi’s face start featuring on Indian currency notes?The RBI first released one rupee notes with Gandhi’s photo on it to commemorate the hundredth birth anniversary of the ‘Father of the Nation’ in 1969, according to a report by Entrepreneur India. In 1987, ₹500 notes were re-introduced with Gandhi’s picture on it.It was only in 1996, the report added, that the Gandhi series was issued, thereby replacing all the Indian banknotes that were issued till then.

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