On November 8, 2016, the world came crashing down for many when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his demonetisation move. Over two months later, even as the nation limps towards some semblance of normalcy, there are those who remain relegated to the margins of the digital payment world, for whom e-wallets and ATM cards are an entirely alien concept.

Of these, perhaps the most wretched are commercial sex workers — the stigma of their profession barring them from the education and awareness required to use alternatives to cash.

In a bid to bring these workers into the cashless arena, a group of civil service aspirants from the city decided to take this learning to the sex workers at Budhwar Peth and make them aware of their options.

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A basic survey was carried out last week, following which a group of 13 civil service aspirants started working with sex workers on Saturday.

Said Swapnil Sanap, who has a BSc in computer science and is preparing for civil services, “I had read about various workshops which organisations, banks and the government had organised on going cashless. It got me thinking about people from red light areas, carrying the apparent taint of their profession and thus forced to remain uninformed. I figured that the only way was to go and meet them ourselves and help them.”

Simple as the solution seemed, Sanap found few takers for his plan. “Some of my close friends and I contacted around 200 civil service aspirants. Most of them were reluctant to work in a red light area. In the end, only 13 of them agreed,” he said ruefully.

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Satish Thakare, another civil services aspirant, pointed out, “Preparing for civil services is so much more than just reading books. Working with different sections of society is such an essential part of learning. We surveyed an entire area and found out that most sex workers from Bangladesh and Nepal do not have bank accounts while those from India have accounts, but no ATM or debit cards.”

Sujit Bhasme, an engineer and civil service aspirant, said, “Mingling with the sex workers was not easy. They are wary of accepting any kind of assistance and didn’t really want to talk to us. Finally, we contacted some activists working in the area and with their help, started our work.”

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The group wanted to focus on government schemes targeted towards creating a cashless economy such as *99# — the USSD code for mobile banking services and the RuPay card launched by the National Payment Corporation of India, along with ATM and debit cards and e-banking facilities offered by nationalised banks. The group also met bank officials, made notes, prepared PowerPoint presentations and went to different houses in the area with their computers. An NGO, Kayakalpa, working in the area, also made their hall available to the group for presentations.

The sex workers seemed more than happy to receive this education. One of them said, “Last month, my father was admitted to a hospital in Sangli. After the demonetisation move, as banks were hugely crowded, I had to wait for two days before I could deposit money. Had I known all these things, I would have been able to use my options.”

Another sex worker from the area, said, “I have noted down the mobile numbers of these students. My daughter is 16 years old. It is difficult for me to comprehend this information, but I will ask my daughter to call the students and get an ATM card and RuPay Card for us.”

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The students are aware that their efforts may bear fruit only for a small number of people. But, they say, change has to begin somewhere.

“We will continue to spread awareness, share our mobile numbers and even accompany them to the banks if they want our help there. We’re not claiming that we will be able to make an entire area cashless, but at least awareness will be created. If even 10 commercial sex workers start using the cashless system, it would be worth it,” Sanap concluded.

Last month, my father was in hospital. Had I known all these things, I would have been able to use my options, rather than waiting for two days in crowded banks to deposit cash