Bengaluru: Demonetisation of 86% of the currency in circulation has had, all would agree, a huge impact on daily lives. It has impacted all across the board from the rich and the powerful to the common man for different reasons. It would appear however that the hardest hit is the common man, as always. He always bears the brunt of any decision of his government, as he is the largest chunk of the populace, and possibly the least protected from the vagaries of life and government policies.
To understand the real impact of demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 notes, one needs to talk to the people living below the creamy layer. I spoke to an auto driver from Pantarapalya, a construction laborer from Chandapura and a vegetable vendor from Yeshvanthpur to understand how this momentous decision of November 8th 2016 has impacted their lives. Interestingly, it is the businessmen community from Chickpet, Nagarthapet, Balepet and KR Market, the traditional supporters of the BJP who seem to be the real victims of this Demonetisation decision as they are suffering crores of rupees income on daily basis.
There is a concentration of auto drivers in the Hosaguddadahalli, Pantarapalya, Attiebele parts of Bengaluru city. A chitchat with an auto driver from Prantarapalya gave one an insight into the impact of the decision shook up his life. Babu Kumar, a 32 year old resident of Pantarapalya lives in a cement sheet house with his wife, two kids of 5 and 3 years and his old age mother. “I have diabetes. My mother too has diabetes besides a heart ailment. We need minimum Rs.50 per day for medicine purposes. But since last nine days, life is hell,” he explains. “I don’t have more change to give to customers. People also don’t have much money to spend. So no one wants to hire an auto,” he says. You know, he said, following this decision, when small notes became scarce, many of my regular customers in the area moved to app based cab aggregators. These cab aggregators are offering car-pooling services which are economical and in some cases at par with my auto ride. My fear is that these customers may not return to autos ever,” he explains. Indeed it is not just his life that has been thrown out gear, but a whole family’s. According to Babu, one of the biggest challenges he is facing is footing the medical store bills. “My mother has stopped taking medicines on daily basis to save as much as possible. Her health is deteriorating. But I am helpless,” he explained.
The problem is slightly different in the construction rife areas of Old Chandapura, Attibele, Rupena Agrahara which are witnessing a real estate boom. Here the question agitating the minds, is all about unpaid weekly salary which is around Rs.7,000 per person and converting the old denomination notes in their possession. Kamal Rajput, a labor from Nepal said his last week’s salary which was paid in Rs.1,000 denominations by the contractor is still with him. “The contractor is not ready to give a day’s leave to go to bank. This week’s salary is unpaid. I didn’t go to any movie or a good hotel,” he said. His main concern is that the money he sent back home is now invalid. “I have asked my old age parents to covert the notes. But in Nepal there is no clarity on the issue,” he said. “Many laborers’ families are not going to hospitals to take treatment or buy medicines as they do not have valid currency notes. Children are the worst victims,” he added.
Vegetable vendors have other issues. Their concern is that most of their regular customers are moving to shops which have the option to swipe cards. “Visit Yesvanthpur railway station parallel road which converts into a vegetable mandi each evening. Growers only sell here. But now there are no customers and no growers as both are facing the small change problem. It will have long term implications on the farm sector. People may move to stores permanently. This is bad for both,” says Nijaguna Pujari, a grower from Hesaraghatta. “This move will create financial crisis in the rural areas. Moving from cash based economy to banking economy is not an easy task. Farmers can be easily cheated through their debit/ credit cards. The whole exercise is anti-farmer,” he said.
But what do Marwari businessmen who are traditional supporters of BJP say about this demonetisation gamble? A walk on the once busy but now deserted corridors of Chickpet, Balepet, Nagarthapet reveals everything. “No business, no transactions, no jobs for hundreds of families,” summed up a saree trader.
According to him one of the positive developments is that many businessmen are now using the crisis to help their staff and their families. “This exercise has taught them a good lesson. Every one now rushing to get a PAN card,” he said. But he also made it clear that in next general election he will not vote for Modi. “It is not my decision but of the whole business fraternity for destroying the business,” he said.
Seems like a nail in the coffin bought with demonetized currency!
