A few days ago, Pullikar, a labourer hailing from Assam and working in a farm land in Belthangady, got Rs. 9,000 as wages from the land owner.
Three days ago, she went to the post office near Mogaru village and sent Rs. 6,000 as money order to her family in Assam. Though the money has reached them, the family members have not been able to encash it because of shortage of currency, said Dinakar Gowda, the land owner.
He said the bank in his village has gone for a token system to issue cash. “It issues 130 tokens a day,” he said.
Ramesh Kaintaje, a farmer from Mani, said shortage of Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 notes in his village has not only hit farm labourers but also farmers.
“A farm labourer quarrelled with my neighbour last week because he could get only Rs. 300 of the Rs. 660 due to him,” he said.
Harvesting affected
“Arecanut harvesting season has begun. A skilled harvester of arecanut demands Rs. 1,000 a day. In addition, a farmer has to pay at least one or two assistant labourers. Non-availability of Rs. 500 and Rs. 100 notes has aggravated the problem, resulting in delay in harvesting,” he said. “Last week, I visited a bank in Puttur thrice to get Rs. 12,000 for paying labourers.”
“If farmers sell arecanut to co-operative societies, they are making payment in cheque and not cash. If we go to the bank for encashing the cheques, we are not getting the full amount because of shortage of cash,” he said.
Ravikirana Punacha, another farmer from near Vitla, said that many private arecanut traders have either stopped purchase of arecanut or are making use of the low prices quoted now. A private trader recently quoted Rs. 220 for a kg of old arecanut (single chol), instead of prevailing rate of Rs. 260,” he said.
Manohar Shetty, a farmer from Kuppepadavu, said the impact of shortage of currency in his village has not been felt much now as a nationalised bank has notes of Rs. 10 and Rs. 50 denominations. “There was scarcity a week ago, but not now,” he said.
Because of shortage of cash, labourers are not getting their dues fully and others are unable to encash cheques
