People forced to borrow, business low, workers left without wages

The situation on the currency front continues to be grim and the anger and frustration among the commoners and the salaried class is palpable in different parts of the State as the crisis drags on without any sign of immediate improvement.

Interactions with different sections of the population in various districts by The Hindu reporters show that demonetisation is continuing to wreak havoc in the lives of ordinary people, especially in the context of the Reserve Bank of India’s restrictions on cooperative banks and credit societies in participating in the currency-exchange exercise.

Businesses have suffered a blow, workers in the small scale sector and traditional industries have been left without prompt wage payments and, in general, people with immediate requirement of money have been left borrowing from whomsoever they could tap.

Thiruvananthapuram

On the streets of Thiruvananthapuram, sales have plummeted by roughly half of what they used to be before November 8. Those running small eateries and restaurants spoke of a 50-60 per cent fall in business.

“We are keeping the show going only because we do not want to lose the workers we now have. We are paying their wages from our pocket,” said a restaurateur close to the international airport. Apparel stitching centres, in particular, are in a fix, as customers are not turning up to collect finished items. George, a tailor at Saphalyam Complex, Palayam, says that his customers owe him up to Rs.10,000.

His savings are running low, and there is nobody to borrow from, given the cash crunch. “I might soon go hungry, unless I resort to stealing,” he says.

Kannur

In Kannur, discontent is evident over a large spectrum. “Today I got only one phone call till noon, while normally I get 25 to 30 calls by 11 a.m. everyday,” said Mohammed Sunil, a businessman in Kannur.

The crisis is also forcing people to hold on to whatever little small denomination currency notes they have.

“It is becoming quite a hassle,” said Heera Krishnan, a resident at an apartment at Kannookara in Kannur and secretary of an apartment owners’ association.

She said she paid the salary to the security staff in cheque and the weekly wages for workers of the apartment complex with currency of Rs. 20 denomination.

For ordinary people, it is not so much the shortage of cash but shortage of currency of Rs. 100, and lower that has made life distressing.

“The ATMs in Kannur town have only currency of Rs. 2,000 and so I abandoned my attempt to withdraw money yesterday,” said T. Gafoor, a carpenter.

For a small carpentry work he did the other day, he was offered a cheque because the household where he did the work has only a few notes of Rs. 2,000 denomination.

Kollam

Workers of a major private plantation in the eastern parts of Kollam, near Thenmala, refused to accept weekly wages last week when the management brought Rs. 35 lakh in the scrapped denomination notes.

The workers wanted the management to disclose the source of the cash or make arrangements with a bank to exchange the notes.

The management failed to meet the demand and the workers, numbering around 500, have been forced to go without their wages for a week.

Kochi

In Kochi, long queues before bank branches and ATMs have become the norm with weary and, as a result, angry people waiting for their turn.

The availability of bills of Rs. 100 at some ATMs was in stark contrast to the ubiquity of the Rs 2,000 bill at bank branches. Noticeably, the day also marked the receding stock of Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 notes, though soiled, while Rs. 50 bills remained largely unseen.

“It’s getting tougher by the day with no solution in sight. There are rumours that a tranche of new Rs.500 note, worth Rs. 5 crore, is reaching the RBI regional office in Thiruvananthapuram, but that may not be sufficient to meet the demand,” says C.D. Josson, State general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Federation.

In Malabar

Demonetisation has brought life to a virtual paralysis in the Malabar region. In the urban and semi-urban centres, the increased cash flow seemed to be easing the pressure on banks and thinning people’s queue at banks and ATMs. But the Centre’s decision to slash the amount that can be withdrawn from Rs. 4,500 to Rs. 2,000 has once again increased the demand for cash and added to the length of queues at banks. A large number of ATMs have run dry. In the rural areas, the rationing system has been hit and farmers are at their wits’ end trying to find money to meet their immediate needs.

Thrissur

Jaya at Thirur in Thrissur, who ekes out a living ironing clothes, and Sukumaran, who runs a TV and computer repair shop, are faced with similar plight, with little income coming their way.

“I haven’t received a single piece of cloth for ironing last week,” said Jaya.

Shravan Paul, a young entrepreneur, laments that he has to stand in the queue with identity card for hours for each bank transaction.

“Projects are getting postponed and payments getting delayed. We are forced to keep running projects on hold and thanks to curbs on withdrawal of money form banks, we are not able to pay wages for workers,” he says.

Malappuram

Disillusionment is beginning to engulf many in Malappuram as only three of the 16 ATMs in the town functioned on Friday. Serpentine queues were seen outside the ATMs.

A man was seen in tears at a leading bank branch on finding that the bank is not in a position to give him cash for his daughter’s marriage. He had a few lakhs of rupees in his account, yet could not withdraw the cash he needed for the marriage.

“It is pathetic,” fumed poet Manambur Rajanbabu.

Pathanamthitta

People are resorting to cheque payments for bulk purchases as has been experience of G. Sreekumar, who runs a hardware shop on the outskirts of Thiruvalla town. He had to take cheques worth Rs. 1.5 lakh on Thursday while the cash received at the shop on the day was only about Rs 14,000.

Expectations belied

The State Bank of India that received a large infusion of notes on Wednesday to be pumped into its Kerala branches and ATMs found smaller-denomination notes less in quantity.

The SBI received from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Rs.406 crore worth of fresh notes, to the relief of the bank’s staff.

But, against their expectations, the cache included only a small quantum of smaller notes — only Rs.9 crore worth of 100s, 50s and 20s.