New Delhi. The Reserve Bank of India has announced scrapping the production of the one-rupee coins and replacing it with Cadbury’s Éclair toffees instead. Speaking a day after announcing the GDP figures of the 2nd quarter of 2009, RBI Governor D Subbarao stated that he had been mulling this change since quite a few years; however the global recession had provided the perfect time to initiate this change as citizens see each step as a positive step towards economic recovery.

Talking to reporters Subbarao said “Ever since I can remember – people have stopped using the one-rupee coin and small businesses across the country have been giving people toffees instead of actual change. We had to wake up to the reality that no one cares about the one-rupee coin anymore – not small businesses, not coin collectors, not even beggars! When was the last time a beggar actually accepted a one-rupee coin, and why should he? At least with toffees, underprivileged people can provide their children some form of nutrition.”

RBI has notified that a toffee broken into two parts won’t be two 50 paisa coins

Since the announcement – Cadbury’s global stock prices have jumped dramatically – leaving companies like Kraft, which had launched a hostile takeover bid recently, running for cover.  Cadbury CEO Bharat Puri welcomed the announcement, “We at Cadbury are very excited to have the Éclair as the official replacement for the one-rupee coin. We believe it is an act of common sense given that the production cost of the Éclair is much lower than the actual one-rupee coin. Besides it is lighter on the pocket and has nutritional value unlike the regular coin, which has been unfortunately getting swallowed by our children for a long time now.”

Common people have welcomed the step as they can now rightfully give back the toffees their shopkeepers had handed out to them to pay for other stuff they actually want to consume. In fact, by the evening, most of the grocery stores and FMCG stores in the country were brimming with toffees.

Some however were not so pleased. Amol Sharma of the ISB (Indian School of Beggars) expressed his disappointment at the change. “Our entire curriculum since the past few decades has evolved around our students asking for spare change. Now with this action, all that we will have is decayed teeth.” According to reports, ISB students could demonstrate in front of the RBI tomorrow opposing the proposed move with placards reading “no worms in our wallet”.

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