Ground reality

being cashless. “For every fishing trip, I need at least Rs 2 lakh. Diesel and ice are available through cheques. But we need at least Rs 50,000 in cash to buy ration and other provisions for eight fishermen who go out to sea. On the other hand, the traders are paying me only through cheque since November 8,” says Ashok Bamaniya, whose father owns a fishing trawler.

Three days ago, Bamaniya, stood in the queue outside the SBI branch in Wanakbara for two hours, but gave up after coming to know that the bank was giving only Rs 4,000 each.

Butnirjaykumar,assistantbranchmanager of the Central Bank of India branch in Main Bazaar, says there is no cash shortage. “We have received 13 applications for POS machines from hotels, bars, general stores etc, and we’ve forwarded the requests to our regional office in Rajkot. Online transactions have increased by around 10 per cent since November 8,” says Kumar.

Raja Charaniya, who owns two fishing boats, says his son makes frequent trips to the bank for cash. “Many of my 30 workers are from states like Maharashtra and don’t have bank accounts. There is no other way to pay them but in cash,” he says.

Diu municipal council president Hitesh Solanki says teams are training people in digital transactions. “These teams are educating fisherman, grocers, auto-rickshaw drivers, and owners of provision stores among others,” he says. But for now, big hotels and restaurants are the only ones accepting cashless transactions.

It is the same story in Daman. With about 85,000 migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha and Maharashtra, who live in rented rooms and work in textile and plastic factories and liquor distilleries, some labour intensive industries are struggling to go cashless.