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  India   All India  15 Nov 2016  Jammu & Kashmir beggars feel short-changed

Jammu & Kashmir beggars feel short-changed

THE ASIAN AGE | YUSUF JAMEEL
Published : Nov 15, 2016, 2:54 am IST
Updated : Nov 15, 2016, 2:55 am IST

Yasmeen received food and other goods as alms, instead of money, from her regular benefactors.

Ramzan reluctantly admitted that he had kept his “hard-earned” money in cash at home. (Photo:PTI)
 Ramzan reluctantly admitted that he had kept his “hard-earned” money in cash at home. (Photo:PTI)

Srinagar: Yasmeen became a widow at just 27 years old. She was left alone to care for her family after her husband died of cancer at the age of 31. Without any regular source of income and with no support coming from any quarter, she started begging in order to feed her two young daughters.

On Monday, during her weekly visit to a Srinagar neighbourhood, Yasmeen received food and other goods as alms, instead of money, from her regular benefactors. “Yeath gayee na halaath kharab. Kenhye cho’na ponsa devaan yen’a Modiyan baedye note bekar kaere (The situation has worsened. No one is giving money after Modi discarded big notes),” she grumbled. When a local housewife expressed her inability to give her money as alms, Yasmeen wondered if she could get a packet of salt instead. “There has been a scarcity of salt too,” the housewife told her.

Like many other parts of north India, Kashmir has also seen rumours of salt scarcity doing the rounds, leading to hoarding of the commodity and a sudden increase in its price. Yasmeen got a one-kilogramme pack of salt from the housewife. While leaving, she prayed with all her heart for the giver and her family.

Though the demonetisation move has left a negative impact on the daily “earnings” of Muhammad Ramzan (name changed) as well, this professional beggar from Damhal Hanjipora — a remote hilly area of Kashmir — is in real trouble because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “war on black money”. Ramzan reluctantly admitted that he had kept his “hard-earned” money in cash at home, and the sudden withdrawal of high-denomination notes from circulation may cause him ruin.

“I used to be a daily-wage labourer when young and in good health. However, I had the misfortune of meeting with an accident in which I lost my right arm and my disability forced me into begging to sustain myself,” he said. Since people give out only small denomination currency as alms, Ramzan would exchange smaller bank notes and coins with large ones, mainly of 500 denomination, at groceries and pharmacies after short intervals, and then keep these at his rented accommodation in Srinagar.

“I twice went to ask the bank officials if I can exchange them for new banknotes, but they said they need some documentary evidence for that. I’m at a loss about what to do. Will this Modi snatch my hard-earned money from me?”

Tags: demonetisation, black money, salt scarcity
Location: India, Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar