Four days of trying time scurrying for cash and standing in long queues before the banks and ATM machines has been enough to swing the people’s mood from that of hope and admiration for the decision to demonetise Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes to that of distrust and cynicism.
Those standing in the serpentine queues before the banks and ATM machines for hours to exchange or deposit their invalid notes in the bank or draw cash gave vent to their frustration that the government should have been more thoughtful about the disruption it would cause to lives of common people.
“Why are the commoners and middle class getting harassed when they wanted to draw or exchange their own money,” asked a working woman who could finally draw cash after repeated attempts on Saturday in Narayanaguda.
Ashok, a driver who has to perform his son’s marriage in a few days, is a worried man because of the cash crunch and the banks would not give more than Rs.4,000 in exchange and the ATMs more than Rs.2,000, if he is lucky to get his turn before the cash runs out.
Rajyalakshmi, a senior citizen with indifferent health, was fortunate as a public sector bank in the Jubilee Hills was thoughtful enough to give priority to senior citizens. But her worry is about the repeat trips she has to make to the bank as Rs.4,000 will not last long as she has to pay her domestic bills and purchase medicines.
Interestingly, some public sector banks got deposits into the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor in the last four days. The word is that those with unaccounted money are parking their money in these accounts by giving a nominal commission to the account holder. A bank officer admitted they received deposits into couple of such accounts. “We accepted the deposit by following the norms of Know Your Customer. If a third party came, we accept the deposit by taking an authorisation from the account holder,” he said.
Meanwhile, despite the banks working long hours and even on Saturday, there is no let up as yet for the people’s woes due to short supply of currency notes. A bank manager in Khajaguda said that they had to load the ATM with Rs.100 notes three or four times. The cash had to be arranged and loaded while people in the queue had to wait. “We disbursed Rs.13 lakh on Friday,” he said. However, in some private bank ATMs, the rush has eased to some extent.
