Note ban: Kolkata college students divided

Kolkata: It has been almost three weeks since the Central government’s demonetisation drive was announced, but city-based college students still find it difficult to adapt to the change.

Although the move was aimed at moving towards a digital economy, the decision largely caused inconvenience to the students and even to the internet savvy youth of the city. The availability of online portals was a convenient alternative payment method, yet many believe not all transactions can be done online.

A student of Political Science at Presidency University, Sumedha Pandit said, “For meeting daily expenses such as travelling and eating at college canteens or making purchases at the nearby grocery shops, these portals are not helpful methods of payment for me. I do use internet based applications for transactions but that is mostly for high-end shopping, not for the daily chores. Dealing in cash was rather easier for me.”

But even as some faced problems, there are those who have been so heavily dependent on plastic cash throughout the year that they did not face any major difficulty. An engineering student of Jadavpur University, Rishav Kar said, “I have been using all sorts of digital services for the last two years, for all purposes of travelling or eating outside. The only problem I faced was paying the rent which was more than the amount I could withdraw in a day.”

Some in the city have not seen the move create any major hindrance in their lifestyle. However, they have taken to curtailing their daily expenses and saving up cash in case of any emergency situation to avoid standing in the huge lines outside the banks. An economics student of St. Xavier’s College, Shreya Saraf said, “I have personally not experienced any inconvenience as of yet but I have been restricting unnecessary expenditure so that I could save some money for any crisis”