How four families have survived two weeks of demonetisation

Mangalore Today News Network

Single mother: No medicines in Mumbai

On the night that demonetisation was announced, Shabana Sayyed’s daughter had fallen ill. A single mother with two other children to care for, Sayyed checked her wallet to see if she could afford medicines for her girl’s headache and fever.

 

“All I had was Rs 300 in useable currency,” said Sayyed, 35, a domestic worker from a dense slum near Bandra railway station in Mumbai. “The rest was Rs 6,000 in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, and no one gave me change for it.”

Sayyed puts in a 12-hour day working in six different homes, earning Rs 20,000 a month. Her cramped 80 sq ft room in the slum costs Rs 5,000 a month in rent, and with daily household expenses of Rs 400-Rs 500, savings are rare.

 

With demonetisation, Sayyed’s family has been forced to cut costs across the board to make sure their limited cash resources don’t get exhausted faster than the banks can exchange money.

“Last week it took me four hours of waiting in line to get my old notes exchanged,” said Sayyed. “And because no one had change for a Rs 2,000 note, I had to buy ration on credit for six whole days.”

Vegetables and foodgrains, says Sayyed, have grown more expensive in the past 10 days, because of the impact of demonetisation on wholesalers and retailers. “It is hard enough to buy bhaji and dal, so we have been forced to give up our regular meat,” she said.

While younger mothers in her slum were struggling to buy milk for their children, Sayyed had to walk to work – more than 3 km one way – because she didn’t want to waste precious cash on autorickshaws. “Still, I haven’t been able to get medicines for my daughter.”

How it adds up

Income before demonetisation: Rs 20,000.
Income now: Her next monthly salary is due in the first week of December.
Cash exchanged: Rs 6,000 in three trips to the bank.
Cash deposited: None. Does not have a bank account.
Expenditure before demonetisation: Rs 6,000 monthly rent, Rs 400-Rs 500 daily .expenses
Expenditure now: Cutting back on essentials. Made Rs 300 last for the first three days.

Hairstylist in Patna: Living precariously

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to do away with Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has not been good for Guddu Sharma’s family. Sharma, 24, lives with his wife and two sons near Patna’s Boring Road, and runs a men’s salon about 30 minutes away. Since the prime minister’s announcement, he said, earnings have fallen. His salon, which charges Rs 40 for a haircut, used to make anywhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 on the weekend. But now, he said, that has fallen to Rs 500. Regular customers – the ones who used to show up every week – have stayed away. If they do drop by, they are asking if they can pay later.

 

Looking at where he lived, it seemed that the salon generated just enough to support Sharma and his family. While Boring Road is one of the principal commercial streets in Patna, his home is located down a narrow lane that points north, up towards the Ganges.