Xmas: No note ban effect on foreigners

New Delhi: With the city streets soaked in Christmas revelry, the city markets have gone quiet as Christmas shoppers, who otherwise swamp the markets every year, are elusive this year. With a drop of over 70 per cent in business, it’s only the foreign students who have come forward to celebrate the festival.

While the majority of shoppers alleged that their purchasing power has been hit due to restrictions on withdrawal of cash from bank and ATM, the foreign students, mostly hailing from Nigeria, were seen hitting the market streets on Saturday in areas like INA Market, Aurobindo Market, and Lajpat Nagar, providing some relief to the street vendors and small-time shop owners.

The streets of Lajpat Nagar Market echoed with slogans like “Noton se nahin, Santa se banao Christmas’”and “Jitna pocket mein hai de jao, khushiyan ghar le jao” by hawkers in a bid to sell decorative items.

While quite a few managed to convince the shoppers, a few continued with the struggle to attract the customers.

Notably, majority of the retailers have to bear losses owing to a relatively abysmal footfall compared to last year.