Rupee notes may cause tuberculosis, ulcers: Traders ask Jaitley to take preventive steps

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to order “a larger investigation” to assess the possibilities of a spread of diseases by currency notes, observing that various reports have indicated so.

The trader's body in a letter to the finance minister on Sunday noted that various scientific journals have been publishing “alarming facts” about the possibility of the spread of communicable diseases through currency notes “almost every year.”

CAIT also mentioned studies conducted on the matter by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which found traces of DNA footprints of at least 78 disease-causing micro-organisms on these notes, though not all of them on a single one. Most of them were fungi, but there were also bacteria that can cause dysentery, tuberculosis and ulcers. The study implies that currency notes often act as carriers of micro-organisms and can spread microbial diseases.

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CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that although science journals have been publishing these alarming facts almost every year, sadly no cognizance has been taken of this serious public health issue. He said the trading community is the largest user of currency notes and if the reports are valid, the said currency notes are vulnerable to the health of not only the traders but even the consumers as well.

He said that besides the government, the Medical Council of India and Indian Medical Association should come forward to investigate whether and to what extent notes are contaminated.

(With inputs from PTI)