Students from professional colleges, who have come to the State from different parts of the country, are facing a cash crunch because of the Union government’s decision to demonetise currency in the denominations of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500.
These students do not have cash on hand nor are they able to withdraw money from ATM kiosks, as most of the machines are not functioning in Hassan city. The students have been forced to take loans from friends, shopkeepers or distant relatives.
Hundreds of students from Malnad College of Engineering on Salagame Road in Hassan, belong to far off places. They have opened savings bank accounts into which their families send money regularly.
Daily expenses
“My father had sent me money earlier this month. I withdrew the money and paid it to our house owner for rent. Now I need money for my daily expenses, that include food, travel and study material. I do not have any cash on hand and none of the ATMs near the college are working. I don’t know what to do,” said Ullas K., from Dakshina Kannada, who is in his final semester of B.E.
Rent returned
Pramod and Karthik, two other students, who are also roommates, are facing a problem too. They had borrowed money and cleared the rent in the first week of the month. “We paid our rent with Rs. 500 notes well before they were withdrawn. Now, the owner has returned the money and is asking us to pay the rent in Rs. 100 notes, said Pramod, also a B.E. student.
Except for a few ATM kiosks in the core area of Hassan city, all were closed even on Sunday. The students were seen moving from one ATM to another to check if cash had been loaded into the machines. Wherever cash was filled, the queue was long.
Loans
With no option left, students are approaching shopkeepers near the college to borrow a few hundred rupees as loans. An owner of a stationery shop near the college said he had loaned about Rs. 5,000 to students in the last three days.
“They are all my regular customers. Some wanted Rs. 200 to Rs. 500. As they were out of options, they approached me for loans and I helped them,” said the shopkeeper.
Queues
The public stood in long queues to withdraw and deposit cash in their accounts on Sunday too. While the withdrawal of cash was discouraged in many banks owing to non-availability of cash, depositing cash was allowed.
Argument
Two youngsters, who had been standing in a queue in front of Haralahalli branch of State Bank of Mysore, came to blows after an argument over who should enter the bank first.
