There is always some rationale that involves bad actors. Then you peel back the layers of the onion and find out the government just wants to screw regular people out of whatever.

I don't disagree with your premise, but in this case, how can this screw regular people? If someone has chosen to store a lot of their money as cash instead of in a bank and doesn't know about this, I can see that. Am I missing something else?

I am not an expert. But may be, it is only the small time tax evaders that store black money in local currency...So if someone has stashed away his lives savings in a stack of 1000 Rupee notes, this move will force them to pay taxes.

Nothing is still being done to deal with really big fishes. The ones who can really make a difference.

So as usual, it is the middle class and lower that are being forced to pay, while the upper and elite classes still given a pass and the government earns good name in the process..

Rich and powerful still wins. It is business as usual..

Being forced to pay taxes is not a bad thing. Middle class are not "losing" anything.

Regular people will have to exchange/deposit the notes, which will cause some inconvenience.

But I think it's well worth the benefits to society as a whole.

Not sure if they will do this during the exchange, but technically you can attach your Aadhaar ID to the exchanged sums. That means in one swoop they know who has how much money...