A surgical strike to help common man
new delhi — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special meeting on Monday to take stock of the government’s demonetisation scheme aimed at draining illegal cash from the economy.
The measures, under which the Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations were withdrawn on a short notice, have sparked chaos across the country.
The Hindustan Times said that after the PM’s meeting, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das detailed the following measures to calm the situation:
1 ATMs will start dispensing new Rs2,000 notes from Tuesday
2 There will be separate queues at banks for those who want to deposit and those who want to exchange cash
3 Daily cash withdrawal limit abolished, weekly limit up to Rs24,000
4 Micro-ATMs will be introduced that will dispense cash on credit or debit cards
5 ATMs that have been re-calibrated to dispense new currency will have a daily withdrawal limit of Rs2,500
6 Businesses with current accounts active for more than three months can withdraw up to Rs50,000 a day
7 Banking correspondents will be allowed multiple withdrawals a day with an upper limit of Rs50,000 per transaction
8 Old notes will continue to be accepted at pharmacies, airports, petrol pumps, railway stations, toll booths until November 24
9 Special task force will be set up to re-calibrate India’s 220,000-strong ATM network
10 Daily cash exchange limit has been stretched to Rs4,500 from Rs4,000
abu dhabi — Hundreds of thousands of Indian expatriates in the UAE are yet to get rid of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes — the currencies made untenable by the Narendra Modi government. When seen as just one Rs500 note (Dh27) and Rs1,000 (Dh54), these are not big amounts to fret over, but considering each Indian could be in possession of a minimum Rs1,000, this cobbles up to a staggering amount.
Check this: The UAE has an estimated 2.8 million plus Indian expatriates — a figure quoted by the previous Indian ambassador, TP Seetharam.
Any Indian travelling to the UAE will land with at least Rs1,000. If so, then the total amount hits Rs2.8 billion.
This amount seems hypothetical considering the many variations to be factored-in with the main contention being it could be Rs100 notes making up Rs1,000. Another aspect is a sizeable number of children too making the 2.8-million population.
However, in cases where children are involved, their grandpa or grandma will surely give them a token amount before flying out, something that happened in the case of Pranav and Gauri. “We each got Rs1,000 from our grandparents,” the two children said.
Their parents – Girish Unni and Nimta Girish – both have excess of Rs25,000 still with them.
“We had kept the money to use while travelling back to India. It’s sad that we will not be able to use it anymore. It has no value now. Our Rs25,000 in hand is just piece of papers,” Girish said.
And then there are those who just reached the UAE shores to find themselves in a miserable state.
Couple Ranju Rajan and Rini Ranju said: “We came here last week and have Rs20,000. We tried to get it changed to dirham through money exchanges but we haven’t succeeded in doing that. We don’t know if there is any option left.” plus Indian expatriates in the UAE as per figures quoted by Indian mission
It may be the Indian mentality that is hurting them, said a Filipino. “We will never enter the UAE with too much of peso. Indians seem to love their currency too much and are paying for it now.”
Then there are veterans, who have served the UAE for long years and unknowingly accumulated a big chunk.
Dhyanesh, who has been in Abu Dhabi for more than 20 years, has amount in excess of Rs40,000.
“I just don’t know what to do. It’s only now I realised I am sitting with such big pool.”
It’s the poor workers, who are the worst hit.
“Each one of us got Rs500 to Rs1,000 or more. Now what to do? The money exchanges have shut doors on us. We are struggling for food and salary, and now the Modi government has piled our misery,” said Rakesh Kumar, a worker.
Having less money seems to have helped a few, like Mohammed Rashed. “I had just Rs500 and I have managed to send it back through a friend.”
Sending money back through friends and relatives seems to be the best bet until the money exchanges are back offering changes.
The amount of Rs280 crore could be a bare minimum. Indians do tend to enter the duty free with a big amount or keep for taxi change while returning back home. Even as an Indian lands in the UAE, they are bound to keep some change for taxi fare when they will return maybe a year later. It is such visionary planning that are hurting the Indians now.
The usually seen trend is of Indians with at least Rs5,000 in hand. That is a grand total of Rs14 billion — enough food for the Indian government to think about.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com