Elderly don’t use plastic money, can’t stand in line: YB Handa

New Delhi: Y.B. Handa has grown frail in a retirement home in Mayur Vihar and his memory stretches up until the 1930s. “High taxes have made people dishonest,” he said when asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to demonetise high-value currency notes.

“A lot of business people are bypassing the banks because they have been mounted with a lot of tax burden,” Mr Handa said, who formerly worked with a major technology and engineering firm. Reminiscing the time when one had to pay no property tax, he said the middle class now has to pay through the nose to keep their families afloat. Calling the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre’s demonetise scheme an “ill-thought-out decision,” he said the ruling party is yet to deliver on the promise of bringing back money stashed in tax havens. “Why target the middle class? Many of the families are paying 30-40 per cent earning as taxes” he said. On the liquidity crisis in the market following sudden withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs1,000 notes from circulation, he said, “At the cremation grounds, you need to pay large sums of money to buy woods to build a pier and hire priests. So essentially, old people need to have a kitty for even their last rites.”

In East Delhi’s Bhagwat Dham Ashram, where many retired people live, residents spend more on medicines than food, according to Mr Handa. He said the demonitisation scheme has affected residents of the retirement home as they find long queues outside banks and ATMs very inconvenient.

Lamenting on the devaluation of money, he said, “Necessities for senior citizens like a telephone costs Rs 500 each month. We need that box to keep in touch with family and friends. But why are we having to pay so much for it?” he said.

“We don’t use the plastic money like you guys do,” Mr Handa said.