Notes ban windfall for drunk hubbies, gods'

Bhopal: Demonetisation of currency notes may have caused many hardships to the common men, but it has led to windfall gains at least for drunkard husbands in poor families and the “Gods”.

A counselling Centre set up by a group of volunteers here to help the poor people, not well-versed with the banking system, redeem their money following demonetisation of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, has come across many cases of heartbroken poor women who had to park their years’ long savings in their “drunkard husbands” bank accounts despite knowing well that they would never get their money.

“We have found that hundreds of poor women who had concealed their savings earned through hard works in the past two to three decades from their tipsy husbands had no other options but to deposit the high denomination currency notes in the bank accounts of their spouses, despite being apprehensive that their spouses would never return their money,” Narrottam Choubey, one of the volunteers said.

According to him, such unwitting victims of demonetisation measure mostly included domestic helps and daily wage earners who have so far not opened their bank accounts. The savings of such women ranged from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000.

Similarly, reports reaching from various parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh said the hundis (donation boxes) in many temples in these two states have been overflowing following sudden spurt in donations by generous devotees. Reports said famed Mahamaya temple in Bilashpur district in Chhattisgarh has also been receiving huge donations of demonetised currency notes.