Note ban resembled days of Emergency

Vijayawada: After 15 weeks of demonetisation, many families still don’t want to remember those dreaded experiences here. Though the currency availability position eased to a large extent, many recall those initial days as a nightmare that haunts them for lifetime. A large number of victims were petty vendors whose lives were shattered by cancellation of the big currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. Among the victims include the youth whose marriages were postponed and patients whose medical procedures were put off.

• Petty vendors, traders, middle class recall that the initial days as a nightmare which will haunt them for a lifetime
• Wholesale traders hope that their business will pick up once the withdrawal restrictions are lifted next March

Victims of demonetisation equate their trauma with that of Emergency. They were left with the currency they had with them at home when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced note ban on November 8 and sought people’s cooperation. From the very next day and a few more days after that, people lost contact with their banks.

The rationing of currency notes was a big shocker for all. For working class who cannot understand the language of economics from the Prime Minister, it was a shock. The waves of shock hit them like tsunami and reduced them to paupers. They faced the inconvenience of waiting in serpentine queues at banks to exchange notes and to withdraw money from their accounts.

Mazharunnisa, a patient with heart ailment, was planning to go for surgical procedure as advised by the doctors when the demonetisation hit her hard. Even if she went to her bank branch, she could only withdraw Rs 4,000. The paltry 4,000 rupees was not sufficient for her to travel to hospital in Hyderabad. “I spent all the time praying to Allah to save my health.

Doctor told me that I had blocks which needed to be cleared with surgical procedure at the earliest. What can I do except for praying for myself while performing Namaz every time. It was a horrible time of my life as I had to compromise and sacrifice for country as told by the Prime Minister. Every day was a tough day for me as even doctors could not say what happens to me if I delayed the procedure.

It was by God’s grace that I survived the trauma following demonetisation,” she recounts. Ramakrishna, an engineer, was speechless when the girl’s family with whom he got engaged informed him a day after demonetisation that they had to postpone and fix another date for marriage.

The girl’s family had to fulfil many financial and custom-related obligations to perform the marriage that needs a few lakhs of rupees. He pointed out that due to the demonetisation, the marriage could not be held at an auspicious date suggested by priests.

He had already informed their family friends and pals about the marriage which was supposed to be held in December first week. But the entire marriage plan was affected even as he tried to convince the girl’s family to make the event simple. However, the girl’s family was not in a mood to listen to him. They want to make it memorable with a traditional touch.

Swamy, a textile shop owner involved in wholesale business says, “From the Day One of the demonetisation, sales dropped drastically. Many traders suffered severely. With no takers, the earnings have gone down steeply. Some traders could not pay rent for their shops, leave alone salaries for the workers. The nightmares of demonetisation still persist and haunt traders.

Now, the customers have money. But there will be restrictions till mid-March. By that time, we hope our customers will have power to shop as there will be no restrictions on extent of withdrawals. As we do wholesale business, almost all our customers spend huge sums and sell in retail in their retail shops.”

The demonetisation has made working class real victims. Along with them, the middle-class salaried people wasted many valuable man hours waiting at banks to withdraw money. Whether or not the demonetisation succeeded in containing black money, many vendors and working class suffered a lot. They don’t want to recollect the bad days of demonetisation.

By Noor Shaik