By
Anjana Girish and Riya Mathews
CHENNAI, November 15: Slightly over a week after the government announced the demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes, it has become evident that the worst affected are the working class with limited access to banking services and plastic money.
Now, a regular day is characterized by standing in long queues outside the banks. It has become a norm not just for the office goers and middle class households but also for the fishermen community in Besant Nagar.
Speaking to the reporters, S.Kanakavalli, a fisherwoman, got furious as she was unable to run her business like before, post demonetization. Bearing the loss all by herself as she couldn't provide notes of lower denominations when handed over notes of 500 and 1000 by the customers, it invariably affected her sales. For her, standing in queues outside the bank to change the notes meant loss of sales for another day.
Rukmini Devi who also lives in the same street says, "Nobody is giving money in small denominations. I don't have money to return when they give me 500 rupee notes against the 100 rupees they are supposed to pay. I don’t have any money to do business now."
T. Chandru who just returned from fishing, also pointed out the difficulty in carrying out business with the higher value currency. This has reduced the demand for fish and inturn reflected in the market rate.
Divya Murukan, another fisherwoman speaks about the considerable loss in her income pointing out that she only got 300 rupees post devaluation of currency. This has become a considerable loss against the usual 700-800 rupees sales per week. She is unable to provide the customers with the required change compelling the customers to leave without buying the fish.
Even the people who took loans from the banks, are finding it difficult to repay it. K.Nivedita, one among the twenty who took a loan from the bank has to pay Rs 1610 along with other members which amounts to a total of Rs 32,200 and the bank authorities have insisted them not to pay it with the devalued currency notes.
Meanwhile, certain shops are accepting the devalued currency with "special" charges which ranges from Rs 50 to 100. P.Bhanumathy, a fisher woman, shares her experience and she was deeply worried as she could not buy fish because of money shortage.
Anchhalvazhi recalled the days she got huge sums of money from her business. Now, with the devaluation of currency, she finds it hard to sell fish leaving her with little to no money.
V. Radha blames the "system" that reduced her earnings. Although she finds customers who buy for 20 to 50 rupees, she's unhappy with her current income which is half of what she earnt earlier.
This is not just the story of the fishermen community but also the underrated tale of the larger population who are heavily affected by the devaluation of currency notes over midnight.
