How note ban wiped out a livelihood
Many small shops exchanging soiled notes forced to shut down.
New Delhi: For seven months, Naresh suffered a severe financial crunch. He had to close down his small 24-year-old business at Chandni Chowk, and started driving an auto. He was embarrassed as he was unable to pay school fees for his two children.
Similarly, another person known to Mr Naresh, Mr Pramod Kumar, a 58 year old who was running his small business for 30 years would to visit the Chandni Chowk market everyday during the demonetisation period.
The middle-aged men were small vendors who would exchange old notes and coins at the Chandni Chowk market. The business however, suffered severely after the demonetisation announcement on November 8, 2016.
They, like many others, would sit every morning with a stool and a small board that displayed “We buy and exchange old notes and coins” (yahan fatte purane note aur naye purane sikke khareede bechhe jatey hain) on the footpath of the busy market all the way from the Red Fort to Fatehpuri. Initially, after demonitisation, the public, in the hope of exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, would go to these small vendors to avoid standing in long queues outside banks. But when they couldn’t help, their businesses witnessed a serious breakdown.
“I had no other option. I had to feed my family and so I started driving an auto. I don’t find it a respectable job. Even though I sat at a roadside footpath, people would respect me,” Mr Naresh said. Mr Pramod said, “My son is earning and hence my house is running or else this business wont even help me make tea in my house”.
The commission charged by the men is usually between 5 per cent to 10 per cent which is a small amount.
The vendors then go to the dealers who do the actual exchange of these soiled notes in ‘Kaccha Bagh’ street. The Kaccha bagh dealers go to the RBI and local banks to exchange these mutilated notes. Before demonetisation, the vendors were able to earn enough money to pay for daily needs.
However after demonetisation, there is no fixed income. Sometimes customers come and buy coins and sometimes they go home empty handed. But the struggle is not over yet. The business is not as profitable as it used to be before.