Interview with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Interviewed by Prabir Purkayastha Produced by Newsclick Team,

The government has doled out new benefits for corporate houses while the economic slowdown continues to squeeze the common man. Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta discusses the implications of the corporate tax concessions announced by the finance minister today. 

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The post Tax Benefits for Corporates But What About People? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It means, you can now do transactions of Rs 2 lakh (both withdrawals and deposits) only at home branches. Crossing the limit will cost customers a minimum of Rs 150 or Rs 5 per thousand.

Not only this, the Mumbai-headquartered bank capped the third-party or non-home branches transactions at Rs 25,000 a day. The same fees will set in at the same level in case of exceeding the limit.

Earlier, it used to allow Rs 50,000 cash transactions (both withdrawals and deposits) per day.

The bank said the review has been done to discourage usage of cash and push digital transactions.

The bank claimed that the hiked charges are at par with the industry trend.

Its larger peer ICICI Bank’s website shows a minimum charge of Rs 150 for more than four cash transactions (deposits and withdrawals) at home branches for savings accounts, similar to what HDFC Bank is proposing.

Axis Bank, the third largest private lender, charges Rs150 or Rs 5 per thousand, for cash deposits of over Rs1 lakh per month or from the fifth withdrawal at branches, its website said.

It can be noted that a high-level panel led by former Finance Secretary Ratan Watal had called for imposing “nominal charges after a certain limit” for cash transactions. Working towards a less-cash economy, the budget 2017- 2018 has
placed a blanket ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh, following the report by the SIT on black money.

(With PTI inputs)
 

The post Another blow to ‘aam aadmi’ post demonetisation, shell out Rs 150 for more than 4 cash transactions appeared first on SabrangIndia.

नोटबंदी के बाद मोदी सरकार की लोकप्रियता जिस कदर गिरी है, उससे वह बुरी तरह हताश है। लिहाजा वह कुछ नया ऐलान करने की जुगत में लगी है। ताजा कयास यह है कि क्या मोदी सरकार पांच राज्यों में चुनाव से पहले यूनिवर्सल बेसिक इनकम लागू करने की तैयारी में है। पार्लियामेंट के बजट सत्र से ठीक पहले यानी 31 जनवरी को इसका खुलासा हो सकता है। सरकार बजट में यूबीआई का ऐलान कर सकती है। लेकिन बड़ा सवाल यह है कि क्या चुनाव आयोग इसकी इजाजत देगा। नोटबंदी से लोगों के बीच फैली नाराजगी के बाद मतदाताओं को लुभाने के लिए बड़ी चालाकी से नीतिगत घोषणाएं करने की यह कवायद क्या रोकी जा सकती है।

ऐसी रिपोर्टें आ रही हैं कि सरकार यूबीआई को एक प्रगतिशील कदम बता रही है। भारत में गरीबों की आबादी को देखते हुए सरकार जनवरी में आर्थिक सर्वे जारी  करने के बाद यूबीआई का ऐलान कर सकती है। यूनिवर्सल इनकम के पायलट प्रोजेक्ट पर काम कर चुके एक प्रोफेसर का कहना है कि यह योजना भारत को आगे ले जाने वाला कदम है। ब्रिटेन के अखबार इंडिपेंडेंट में भारत की इस योजना की रिपोर्ट छापी गई है। इसमें कहा गया है कि भारत अगर यूबीआई को लागू करता है तो यह भी फिनलैंड जैसे देशों में शामिल हो जाएगा, जहां लोगों को मुफ्त रकम मुहैया कराई जाती हो।

इस बात पर संदेह है कि क्या मोदी सरकार सचमुच में इस यूनिवर्सल स्कीम को लागू करेगी, जिससे देश की 42 फीसदी गरीब आबादी को फायदा होगा या फिर वह इसे आबादी के एक छोटे हिस्से तक ही सीमित रखेगी। हो सकता है कि बजट में यह दिखे कि यह ऐलान सबके लिए है। आखिर मोदी अपने लुभावने वादों को घुमाने-फिराने में होशियार रहे हैं।

यूनिवर्सल इनकम सिस्टम के तहत नागरिकों को सरकार की ओर से एक तय रकम मिलेगी। लेकिन उसे राज्य की ओर से मुफ्त में मिल रही सभी अन्य सहूलियतें छोड़नी होंगी। लगभग एक अरब 30 करोड़ की आबादी वाला भारत बढ़ोतरी दर्ज कराने वाला अर्थव्यवस्था है लेकिन इसकी लगभग 42 फीसदी आबादी गरीबी में जी रही है।

यूपीए सरकार की ओर से 2005 में गरीबी का निर्धारण करने के लिए बनी तेंदुलकर कमेटी का ही मानना था कि देश में गरीबों की आबादी 42 फीसदी है। उसने ही बड़े ही विवादास्पद तरीके से सुझाया था कि शहरों में रोजाना 33 रुपये और गांवों में रोजाना 27 रुपये कमाने वाले लोग गरीब हैं। इस कमेटी ने प्रति व्यक्ति मासिक खपत के आधार पर गरीबी की रेखा खींची थी। इसी आधार पर योजना आयोग ने गरीबी रेखा और गरीबी रेखा अनुपात के अपने निष्कर्ष पर पहुंची थी।

नव उदारवादी नीतियों को आगे बढ़ाने वाले कॉरपोरेट पैरोकार और कई अर्थशास्त्री गरीबी के आंकड़े को 29.5 फीसदी पर निर्धारित करना चाहते हैं।

भारत के मुख्य आर्थिक सलाहकार अरविंद सुब्रमण्यन ने इधर हाल में नोटबंदी का फैसला करने से पहले बताया था कि बजट से पहले 31 जनवरी 2017 को आने वाले आर्थिक सर्वे रिपोर्ट में यूनिवर्सल बेसिक इनकम का जिक्र होगा।

सुब्रमण्यन का कहना है यूबीआई के विचार में काफी संभावना है और यह जनधन, आधार और मोबाइल मनी (यानी जेएएम-जैम) का ही विस्तार होगा। यह कैश ट्रांसफर पर आधारित होगी।

सुब्रमण्यन कहते हैं कि आप चाहे इसे कोई भी नाम दे सकते हैं लेकिन यह कैश ट्रांसफर पर स्थित स्कीम होगी। यह सब्सिडी का विकल्प हो सकती है,जो अक्सर लीकेज और भ्रष्टाचार का शिकार हो जाती हैं।

यूबीआई के भारतीय स्वरूप में बेसिक इनकम सब्सिडी की बजाय कैश ट्रांसफर हो सकता है। सरकार बड़ी सब्सिडी और मनरेगा स्कीम में हर साल 3,00,000 करोड़ रुपये खर्च कर रही है। यह हमारी जीडीपी का दो फीसदी है।  
 
कल्याणकारी राज्य या कैशलेस अनुदान
कल्याणकारी राज्य के पैरोकार, लोगों को नकदी ( या कैशलेस ट्रांसफर) देने का विरोध करते रहे हैं क्योंकि उनका मानना है कि यह कुपोषण की समस्या को खत्म करने के लक्ष्य को पूरा नहीं करता। इससे शिक्षा और जन स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं को बेहतर बनाने में मदद नहीं मिलती। 

ये लोग गरीबों को पैसा देने का विरोध नहीं कर रहे हैं लेकिन उनका कहना है कि यूबीआई स्वास्थ्य और शिक्षा संसाधन मुहैया कराने के राज्य की प्रतिबद्धता और जिम्मेदारी का विस्तार नहीं है। यह सक्षम कैश ट्रांसफर और अक्षम सब्सिडी व्यवस्था के बीच बहस भी खड़ी करती है।
 
 
यूबीआई का वित्तीय स्त्रोत
 
सब्सिडी को खत्म कर यूबीआई लागू करने के पक्षधर कहते हैं कि जीडीपी के 2 फीसदी तक सीमित की गई सब्सिडी के तहत 2016-17 के लिए 3,00,000 रुपये कैश ट्रांसफर किए जाने हैं। इस रकम से प्रति परिवार सालाना 12,000 या 1000 रुपये प्रति महीने अदा करने में कोई दिक्कत नहीं है।

सरकार के 2014-15 के आर्थिक सर्वे में अनुमान लगाया था कि अनाज, दालों, चीनी, तेल उत्पादों, लौह अयस्क, बिजली, पानी और रेल सेवाओं पर दी जाने वाली सब्सिडी मिलाकर जीडीपी की 4.2 फीसदी पड़ती है। अगर यूबीआई के तहत सीलिंग लिमिट दो फीसदी से बढ़ा कर चार फीसदी कर दी जाए तो प्रति परिवार हर महीने 2000 रुपये की रकम ट्रांसफर की जा सकती है। अगर सरकार यूनिवर्सिल बेनिफिट रूट का पालन न करने वाले गरीबों के एक वर्ग तक इस सुविधा को सीमित रखती है तो यह रकम 4000 रुपये तक पहुंच सकती है।

क्या अक्सर टूटे हुए वादों के लिए जाने जाने वाले मोदी की ओर से हर भारतीय को 15 लाख रुपये देने ( ब्लैकमनी लाकर बांटे जाने वाला पैसा) का वादा 4000 रुपये तक सीमित हो जाएगा यह दयनीय विकल्प होगा। लेकिन यह चीजों को तोड़ने-मरोड़ने वाले मोदी के लिए भी दयनीय होगा। मोदी को पता नहीं है कि नोटबंदी पर लोग क्या प्रतिक्रिया देंगे। लिहाजा यूबीआई को वह किसी भी कीमत पर आजमाना चाहेंगे। अगर मोदी गरीबों के एक बड़े मसीहा के तौर पर उभरना चाहते हैं और अपनी पार्टी को पांच राज्यों के चुनावों में जिताना चाहते हैं तो यूबीआई उनका  बड़ा दांव हो सकता है।

लेकिन बड़ा सवाल यह है कि क्या आचारसंहिता लागू हो जाने के बाद भी चुनाव आयोग इसकी इजाजत देगा?

The post क्या अब मोदी खेलेंगे यूबीआई (Universal Basic Income ) का दांव appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Cartoon: Satish Achrya

Reports coming in suggest that the Indian government to endorse universal basic income 'as way forward', says a leading UBI advocate. India, the world’s largest democracy, with high poverty figures, will release after the Economic Survey of India report is released in January, conclude that the UBI is “basically the way forward,” according to Professor Guy Standing, who has worked on universal income pilot projects in India. This has been reported by the UK-based Independent. If implemented, India would join Finland in providing free money to citizens. 

There are doubts whether, the government will truly make this a universal scheme to benefit 42 per cent of India’s population or cleverly limit it to a small section of the population. It could however, at budget announcement time make it seem that it is for all the poor. Modi has been a successful spin doctor of promises unfulfilled.

 Under a universal income system, citizens would receive a set amount of money from the state, forfeiting all other benefits. India, which has an estimated population of 1.3 billion people, has a growing economy but, according to real estimates,  is close to 42 per cent of India’s total population. The Tendulkar committee, that arrived at these figures after being set up by the UPA in 2005, had controversially suggested a family earning Rs 33 per day in a city and Rs 27 on a daily basis in rural areas, should be termed as poor. This panel was formed to review the methodology for estimation of poverty. It estimated the extent of poverty using a poverty line defined in terms of monthly per capita consumption expenditure. Based on this formula, the erstwhile Planning Commission arrived at a poverty line and poverty ratio.

Corporate honchos and economists pushing the neo-liberal framework have been trying their best to reduce these statistics to sat that only about 29.5 per cent of Indian people live in poverty. 

India’s Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian, has stated in the months before demoentisation that annual Economic Survey due on January 31, 2017 would discuss UBI. 

Subramanian has  been quoting as saying that “this is an idea that has a lot of promise, but also challenges. It will be an extension of JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile Money) in that it will be based on cash transfers.” What the CEA is saying is that universal basic income is essentially a form of cash transfer. It doesn’t matter what you name it, but it is an alternative to providing subsidies in kind, are subject to leakages and corruption. In the Indian version of UBI, basic income may be a migration of subsidies to cash in the first instance. Between major subsidies and payments for the MGNREGA employment guarantee scheme, the government spends nearly Rs 3,00,000 crore per annum – roughly two percent of GDP.

Welfare State or Cashless Doles
Proponents of the welfare state have been opposed to cash (or cashless transfers) as they do not in any way really meet targets of either tackling nutrition or health standards, besides absolving the state of actually improving public health and education facilities.

Others opposing UBI while not opposing some share of income with the poor, do not extend this to the mandatory commitment and responsibility the state ensuring health and education resources. This view posits the debate between efficient cash transfers and an inefficient subsidy regime.

How do we finance UBI?
This hardened economic view that wants to cut other government ‘subsidies’ argues that at a ceiling of two percent of GDP on central subsidies, in 2016-17 some Rs 3,00,000 crore will be available for cash transfers. Assuming around 25 crore households (there is a similar number of Jan Dhan accounts) in the country, this money is enough to deliver an annual income of Rs 12,000 per household, or Rs 1,000 per month.

The government’s Economic Survey for 2014-15 estimates that subsidies for the following items amount to 4.2 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product): cereals, pulses, sugar, oil-related products, iron ore, fertilisers, electricity, water, and rail services. If the ceiling limit is increased to say four percent of GDP, every household will get Rs 2,000 per month. And then if the government privileges one section of the poor –and does not follow the universal benefit route– the figure rises to Rs 4,000 per month.

While for Narendra Modi, in his oft-touted broken promise that said he would return Rs 15 lakhs to every Indian (when he tracked illegal stashed money) the reduced 4,000 would be a pathetic alternative. But for a pathetic spin doctor, unsure of how demonetisation will be viewed by the voter, this may be a desperately needed step.

If Modi wants to emerge as the greatest messiah of poor, to save himself and his party before the state polls that are due, this may be his best bet.

 But will the Election Commission allow and permit this just before the polls when the restrictions against ‘buying the voters’ are in place?
 

The post Is Universal Basic Income (UBI) the Modi Sop to be announced Before 5 State Elections? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

नोटबंदी के 57 दिन बीतने के बाद भी स्थिति सामान्य नहीं हो पाई है। ग्रामीण इलाके की बैंकों में अब भी कैश की किल्लत बनी हुई है। शहर में स्थिति करीब–करीब सामान्य हो चली है। यहां 24 हजार रुपये तक का भुगतान किया जा रहा है। शहर के अधिकतर एटीएम बंद पड़े हैं जो चल रहे हैं उन पर अब भी लंबी–लंबी कतार लग रही हैं। एटीएम से पैसा निकालने की सीमा 4500 रुपये हो जाने से लोगों ने राहत की सांस ली है लेकिन ज्यादातर एटीएम बंद होने से लोग परेशान हैं। 

Image: Amar Ujala

गोला गोकर्णनाथ। बैंकों और एटीएम पर अब भी परेशानियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। कैश की कमी के कारण कुछ बैंकों के ही एटीएम चल पा रहे हैं। जहां रुपया निकालने को लोग लाइन में लग रहे हैं। घंटों इंतजार के बाद बमुश्किल राशि निकाल पा रहे हैं वहीं मिल परिसर की इलाहाबाद यूपी ग्रामीण बैंक में कैश संकट बना हुआ है जिससे खातेदारों को मायूस होकर लौटना पड़ रहा है। बैंक के बाहर खड़े कोर्रैया के केशवराम ने बताया कि उन्हें बंदी के बाद दो बार हजार–हजार रुपये मिले हैं। वहीं टिहुलिया के रवींद्र कुमार ने बताया कि वह बमुश्किल बैंक खाते से एक बार में दो हजार रुपये निकाल पाए उसके बाद जब भी वह बैंक आते हैं तो उन्हें कैश न होना बताकर टरका दिया जाता है। दौलतगंज के पुत्तूलाल और लक्ष्मनयती के रामकुमार भी बैंक से भुगतान न मिलने पर मायूस घर लौट गए।

मैलानी। नोटबंदी के बाद से बैंकों में नकदी का संकट खत्म होने का नाम नहीं ले रहा है। बृहस्पतिवार को इलाहाबाद बैंक में अपराह्न दो बजे ही कैश खत्म हो गया। बैंककर्मियों ने चैनल पर नोकैश का बोर्ड लगा दिया। इससे पैसा न मिलने के कारण तमाम ग्राहक मायूस हो गए और कुछ तो काफी देर तक पैसे आने की उम्मीद में बैंक के बाहर ही धूप में बैठ गए। उधर स्टेट बैंक में भी सिर्फ चार हजार रुपये की निकासी ही हो सकी।

बिजुआ। लखीमपुर से पलिया के बीच एटीएम न चलने की खबर लगने के साथ ही गुलरिया चीनी मिल पर लगा एटीएम बुधवार को दो घंटे के लिए चलाया गया। बाद में एटीएम में कैश न होने से वह बंद हो गया। दूसरे दिन ही गुरुवार को एटीएम केबिल फाल्ट के चलते बंद रहा। 

अमर उजाला ने राज्यमार्ग पर 75 किलोमीटर की दूरी पर पड़ने वाले पांचों एटीएम की खबर को प्रमुखता से लगाया था। बुधवार देर शाम को चार बजे एटीएम चल सका लेकिन छह बजे तक कैश न रहने से एटीएम बंद हो गया। गुरुवार को सुबह से एटीएम के सामने लोग लाइन में लगे रहे। बाद में केबिल फाल्ट के चलते कनेक्टिविटी नहीं रही। बाद में कैश न डाले जाने से एटीएम नही चल सका। शाम चार बजे तक लोग एटीएम के सामने लाइन लगाए बैठे रहे।

The post ग्रामीण इलाके के बैंक अब भी कैशलेस – अमर उजाला appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
प्रधानमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी के राष्ट्र के नाम संबोधन को ’बजट पूर्व भाषण’ करार देते हुए पश्चिम बंगाल की मुख्यमंत्री ममता बनर्जी ने आरोप लगाया कि प्रधानमंत्री कालाधन एवं नोटबंदी के वास्तविक एजेंडा से भटक गए हैं। ममता बनर्जी ने ट्वीट कर कहा, ‘‘प्रधानमंत्री कालेधन एवं नोटबंदी के वास्तविक एजेंडा से भटक गए और उन्होंने वित्त मंत्री का पद ले लिया और बजट पूर्व भाषण दिया है।’’ 
 
पश्चिम बंगाल की मुख्यमंत्री ने कहा कि लिहाजा मोदी द्वारा दिए गए इस अग्रिम बजट भाषण से वित्त मंत्री गायब थे। मोदी बाबू थोथा चना बाजे घना। उन्होंने दावा किया कि यह हृदयहीन एवं आधारहीन भाषण था। ममता ने प्रधानमंत्री को याद दिलाया कि वह उन 112 नागरिकों के प्रति भी सम्मान प्रकट करना भूल गए जिनकी मौत नकदी पाने के लिए कतार में खड़े होने के समय हुई। 
 
उन्होंने ट्वीट किया, ‘‘राष्ट्र के नाम संबोधन कहा जा रहा है और राजनीतिक बदले की भावना से काम किया जा रहा है। राष्ट्र के संबोधन के नाम पर वह अपना क्षुद्र राजनीतिक एजेंडा पूरा कर रहे हैं।’’ ममता ने कहा, ‘‘राष्ट्र संबोधन बजट संबोधन बन गया है। काले धन की सफाई के नाम से वित्तीय आपातकाल जारी है। बैंकों में धन उपलब्ध नहीं है। अभी तक समस्याओं का ठोस हल नहीं निकला है।’’मोदी पर हमला बोलते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि वह वादा पूरा करने के लिए 50 दिन चाहते थे किन्तु बुरी तरह विफल हो गए।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

The post ‘मोदीजी ने नोटबंदी से मरने वाले 112 लोगों का जिक्र तक नहीं किया’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image credit:  Abhishek Dey

On a crowded platform of the New Delhi Railway Station on Thursday, Angad Tiwari, 28, ran as he stole hurried glances at the overcrowded Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express – scheduled to depart in the next three minutes – looking for a place for himself for the nearly six-hour journey to his village near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Till last week, Tiwari had a job with a cardboard carton manufacturing unit in Faridabad. Then, the owner closed down the section that employed Tiwari and 27 others. “The factory owner said he did not have the cash to run the unit in full production capacity or to pay our wages,” he said. “Fourteen of us were laid off while the others were accommodated in another process.”

On November 13, five days after he announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes as a tool against black money and counterfeit currency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to the people to give him 50 days to deliver to them the “India of their dreams”. And he promised that he would suffer any punishment if any fault was found in his intentions and actions.

On Thursday, a day before the December 30 deadline, Scroll.in met factory workers and labourers who had migrated from their villages, mostly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, to the National Capital Region to earn a living. These interactions took place at the New Delhi Railway Station, as they waited to catch various trains to take them home. Their reasons for returning – from steep declines in income to being laid off – all boiled down to the severe cash crunch brought on by the demonetisation exercise.

“Had things really changed for the good in these 50 days, I would not be heading home,” Tiwari said. “For factory workers, the demonetisation announcement has dealt a double blow. Our wages for October were pending on the day of the announcement [November 8]. And we had to accept old notes and later get them exchanged at the banks after standing in long queues, sacrificing our wages for those days.”

Angad Tiwari, who lost his job, waits for his train on Platform 13 at the New Delhi Railway Station on Thursday.

And on pay day on December 7, he added, even as the workers demanded their wages in the new currency notes, the factory owner offered them cheques or bank transfers. But most of the workers, including Tiwari, neither had bank accounts, nor the documents to open one in such a short span of time. “I asked the employer to credit my wages to a colleague’s bank account, which he did,” he said. “But that will not work any longer as that colleague, too, had to leave after the department in which the he was employed shut down earlier this month.”

Tiwari said he would not be coming back to Delhi to look for work for at least a month, adding, “I do not see the situation changing much till then.”
 

Going back empty

The days following the demonetisation announcement were probably tougher for 36-year-old Madan Nishad, a resident of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, who was unemployed and looking of work. “I had lost my last job after I took leave for two months to attend to urgent matters at home,” he said. “I was already facing a tough time finding a new job and after the November 8 announcement, there was no chance of getting any work.”

He arrived in the Capital last week, hoping the situation would have settled somewhat. “We were expecting things to get smoother by this month as we trusted the prime minister,” he said. “So last week, a friend from Mirzapur, who is working at a construction material manufacturing unit in Delhi’s Narela, asked me to come over. I arrived on Sunday [December 25]. However, the factory owner refused to employ me, saying he is still to recover from the cash crisis.”
Ramdev Rai, a 30-year-old rickshaw-puller who worked in the areas around the University of Delhi, also gave up on hoping for better days. On Thursday, he was at the railway station, waiting for a train to take him home to Banka district in Bihar.

“In November, my daily income dropped to Rs 150 from what used to Rs 350 to Rs 400 in normal times,” he said. “I was expecting better days in December but that did not happen. After this cash crisis, people do not spend at all.” Rai added that he would not be returning to Delhi for another two to three months at least.
 

Cash is still king

This reverse migration of workers has left the Capital with roughly one-fourth of its total migrant workforce, said Rajesh Kumar, general secretary (Delhi) of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions. Most were left with no option but to head home after their employers shut shop or reduced operations massively.

Kumar said roughly 95% of units in Delh’s industrial areas – Mayapuri, Okhla and Wazirpur being the biggest ones – come under the unorganised sector and have been hit the hardest by demonetisation. “To lay off employees on such a scale without the government’s permission is also a violation of the Industrial Disputes Act, no matter what the reason,” he said. “This demands the immediate intervention of the labour department.”

But the employers, too, claimed to be in a helpless situation, facing circumstances never seen before. Many of them criticised the push for cashless transactions.

“The last 50 days have shown us that we cannot be a cashless economy,” said Neeraj Sehgal, a factory owner and general secretary of the Mayapuri Industrial Welfare Association. “Most factories have cut production capacity by over 25% owing to the cash crisis, which persists. The major hurdle is to deliver the final goods from the point of production to the point of sales as transporters demand only cash.”

Workers, too, prefer being paid in cash because the other alternatives, such as cheque payments and bank transfers, lead them to another problem – withdrawal. “But nothing can be done as the employers, too, are short on cash even after 50 days of the demonetisation move,” Sehgal added.

Courtesy: Scroll.in
 

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When patients from all over India fail to get a healthy treatment, All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi (AIIMS) always comes to rescue. But what if people remain untreated just because ‘cashless’ situation comes in way?

Shiv Kumar Paswan, a 70 years old kidney patient from Chapra-Bihar, is in Delhi for last 3 months but his life has worsened over the past 30 days. Since he has ended up with whatever money he had, he had to take up the option of loan for the interest 10 percent of total amount, and that has added up to 2 to 3 lakh already. Now Shiv is waiting for more than a week outside the emergency ward with no required money to get treated. He said- “I need around 5,000 each day for my treatment and now I have nothing, I am soon going to die.”

Mukesh Kumar, who is the only attendant with Shiv Kumar, said, “ we are from poor family and having no bank account either, earlier at least money was available on high interest rate, but now, even those people also refusing to lend at any rate. People like us have fallen into trap and are on verge of collapse.” he concluded with a quivering voice.

Mukesh Kumar Paswan and Shiv Kumar Paswan waiting outside the emergency of AIIMS

Since its establishment, 6 decades ago, AIIMS has been the Mecca for medical patients across the country. And this drove Mawarlal Jatav and his wife from Madhya Pradesh to get treated his eye in OPD this weekend. However, he claimed the recommendation letter of JyotiradityaeScindia which will help him from any financial barrier. He said, “Our Babuhas did this, keeping cashless situation in mind, yet we’re facing great problems when buying food with limited cash.”

Mawar Lal Jatav with his wife

Everyone is not lucky enough and DinkarYadav, a Lucknow resident, is definitely not among them. He is roaming around AIIMS for his father’s surgery and has to rush back home twice since the announcement of invaliding banknotes of 500 as well as of 1000. He says, “I was carrying 15 thousand of cash mostly of 1000’s note, but unexpectedly I have to way back home to carry all the necessary stuffs for surviving. I even carried grocery to save my little exchanged cash”. He further says, “it’s a great relief that hospital is accepting old notes, but for medicines, I have to spend those new one as I have no ATM card either”.

Zarina, an elderly patient from Saraharpur is in AIIMS for an operation to remove her kidney stone. She says, “I am paying very little and it is a great relief for poors like us, but my son is facing severe difficulties in living with me, although he has ATM card and but every day he has to spent many hours in search of cash in ATM machines and many times he fails in bringing cash.”

Other than migrated patients, locals too are facing different kind of problems.Rahul Kumar said he along with his mother is moving up and down from Indeapuri to AIIMS for more than 20 days. His brother is admitted for treatment of lungs. “I am the only earning member in my family and I am solely responsible for arranging all the finance. Since demonitisation, it has become really tough to mobilise cash even though I have my own bank account. Especially standing in long queues outside ATM in such hectic schedule is not an option.” he concluded.

However, the level of inconvenience is not same for everyone. Another vegetable vender from Tughlaqabad, has been lying outside emergency ward for a week. Mobeen Yusuf is suffering from leg injury. He said he has 5 kids and all are school going. “I was earning nothing less than 3,000 with sufficient profit per day, but after Prime Minister’s decision to invalidate the banknotes of 500 and 1000, I am hurt most, my sale has dropped drastically and debt is rising. My family is ending with the past savings and I am earning no more. No one cares for people like us” he further said.

It’s not only patients at AIIMS who are suffering but the businessmen associated with these patients are equally depressed. My sale has dropped by half since demonitisation. Earlier my customer were buying my chat plates worth Rs.20 but now most of the customers have shifted to plate of Rs.10” said Manvir Yadav, a snacks vender outside AIIMS gate. He further adds, “I don’t know what will be the impact of this decision of invalidating certain currencies but I am sure, my business will ruin in few days.”

Manvir Yadav selling his snacks outside the AIIMS gate

The drug shops outside the AIIMS gate are one of the biggest drug providers to patients and their business largely runs through their purchase. On the promise of anonymity, a drug seller said, “I am really irritated to see big notes of 2,000. We already had scarcity of small banknotes like 50 and 100 but now we are mentally depressed. Because of new banknotes, our trade is dropping, we are forced to refuse. Many customers, when having no smaller notes to give, return their purchase.”

Medical shops outside the AIIMS

Another drug seller in the row said, “We are not accepting old banknotes but offering card swipe machine for digital payments. However, using this adds up extra financial cost to us and I am forced to pay additional amount to my bank for using this machine, when my business already dropping.

Meanwhile, the degree of inconvenience is varying between those plastic money holders and those whose lives run mostly on cash.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The post Demonetisation: A Bitter Pill to Swallow for AIIMS Patients appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Even as hyperbole on De-Monetization hogs the discourse,  here is what a Bank Queue looks like in the PM Narendra Modi’s Constituency. This is the Bank of Baroda and the area is home to thousands of weavers, many though not all belonging to the underprivileged sections.

These photographs were taken on December 13 and 14, 2016 that is on the 35^th and 36^th Day After De-Monetization. The complaints were angry and shrill. Every night at midnight of a new day, the queues form, there are anywhere from 300-450 people in the queue all night. It is winter when the minimum termperature drops to 9-10 degrees centigrade.

The Bank opens at 11 a.m. The process is slow and excruciating. Few persons, get cash, much less than what is their due. At 2 p.m. they are told there is no cash left. The relentless cycle continues and has been continuing.

If this is the state of some of the banks at least in the PM’s constituency of eastern Uttar Pradesh, what of the rest of India, not accessible to the urban camera lens or eye?

Images: Teesta Setalvad

The post Cashless in Varanasi: What a Bank Queue Looks Like in the PM’s Constituency appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Keshu Singh Patel, a flower and vegetable farmer from Mirjapur, Madhya Pradesh, selling his produce to a retailer at the flower market in Indore, on December 7, 2016. Patel earned 70% less this harvest season because of demonetisation. 

“I don’t know if I will recover the cost of growing chrysanthemums this season,” Patel said.
 
Over the harvesting season from October to January, Patel’s income has fallen by 70%. “Four days before and even after notebandi (demonetisation), I was selling sevanti (chrysanthemums) flowers between Rs 30 and Rs 40 a kg; now they sell between Rs 4 and Rs 6 a kg,” he told IndiaSpend.  
 
Patel is one of 118.6 million Indian farmers, as the Census recorded in 2011–equivalent to the population of the Philippines. As many as 9.8 million farmers live and work in Madhya Pradesh, one of India’s poorest states. Patel is a “small farmer”, as he has about 2.5 acres of land, less than the average land held by an Indian farmer (2.84 acres), according to the agricultural census of 2010-11.
 
At midnight on November 8, 2016, Rs 14 lakh crore–or 86% by value of Indian currency in circulation–became defunct after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be considered legal tender. The largest impact appears to be on the informal economy, which employs 82% of India’s 500-million-strong workforce and generates half of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). Businesses ranging from tourism, retail and infrastructure are also adversely affected, according to the this December 7, 2016, story in LiveMint.
 
The government has pushed for digital payments to counter the lack of notes in the economy, but challenges of cell phone connectivity and low Internet usage, especially in rural areas–where less than 15% use the Internet–abound, as IndiaSpend reported on December 10, 2016. Many farmers said they did not know how to use the Internet for banking or had too little in their bank accounts to use for everyday transactions.
 
It is the wedding season, but Patel earns Rs 543 a day instead of Rs 2,600
 
To grow chrysanthemums on one bigha–about 0.4 acres of land–cost Patel Rs 3,000 in seeds, Rs 15,000 in fertiliser and pesticides, and Rs 7,800 for labour, over three months. About 0.4 acres of land should produce 10-12 quintals of flowers. Patel’s family–his wife, son, daughter and daughter-in-law–work from 9 am to 6 pm on the farm.
 
If the crop is good, and flowers sell well during the wedding season–November 15 to December 15–Patel could have made about 2,600 a day. On, December 7, 2016, when IndiaSpend followed Patel, he earned Rs 543. The plant is sowed before the monsoon and flowers between October and January.

 
Over the season, the Patel family would have earned Rs 100,000, a profit more than Rs 74,000. This year, they’ve earned about Rs 30,000, a profit of Rs 4,000 or 94.5% lower. In the month after notes were banned, he earned only Rs 7,000.
 
Patel is forced to sell at a lower rate because flowers wither fast, and their rate reduces with time. “I had to throw 35 kg of flowers because there were no buyers yesterday,” he said.
 
Farmers report income losses of 50% to 80%
 
Patel reached the bustling flower market in Indore–considered Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital–by 7 am. He entered the flower-strewn arena–there are 51 license shops in this government market–on his motorcycle laden with flowers tied in makeshift bags of bright yellow, green and red cloth.
 

Keshu Singh Patel and his son, Kantilal, fill flowers into make-shift cloth bags at his farm in Mirjapur, Madhya Pradesh. The flowers sold at lower prices because of demonetisation.
 
In the market, because of a lack of notes, other farmers have lost between 50% and 80% of their income in the last 25 days.
 
Anil Dawli, 39, sells potatoes, chana (chickpeas), methi (fenugreek) and eggplant in the market. He said he had been earning between Rs 80 and Rs 100 a day, compared to Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 a day before the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
 
“Methi is selling for Rs 2 to Rs 5 a kg, down from Rs 10 a kg,” he said, sitting in the midst of heaps of green leaves. He had no choice but to sell, as the leaves would soon rot.
 
“My guldavri (local name for chrysanthemums) sold for Rs 7 a kg. This is the season of weddings. It should have sold for at least Rs 35 to Rs 40 a kg,” said 36-year-old Mukesh Mukatil, who had brought about 90 kg of flowers to the market.  
 
Bundles of locally-grown red gladiola flowers were selling for half the price, down from Rs 225 for 10 sticks to Rs 120, farmers said.
 


Note: Prices based on farmer estimates in Indore mandi, December 5 and December 11, 2016.
 
Patel cuts chrysanthemum stalks; they are too expensive to maintain
 
Around 12:30 pm, Patel returned to the farm, as three labourers were cutting down the stalks of the chrysanthemums planted on about 0.2 acres of his farm. His family spent the day plucking flowers off the other plants so Patel would have enough to sell the next day.
 
Of his 2.5 acres, about a fourth of an acre lies fallow, as their isn’t enough water for the crops.
 
After selling one crop of flowers, Patel would have waited for the plants to regrow and sold another batch. “But because prices are low, it is more expensive to maintain the plants,” Patel explained. In a regular year, the plants would have been cut in the end of January or February.
 
“To add to it, there is a higher quantity of flowers coming into the market which has reduced prices further,” said Sharad Kusumakar, 61, who owns a shop in the flower market.
 
When IndiaSpend spoke to Patel’s son, Kantilal, on December 13, 2016, he said the market had picked up a little, with chrysanthemums selling between Rs 10 and Rs 20 a kg. “But we’ve already cut down the stalks,” he said, adding that the recovery of prices wouldn’t benefit them.  
 
Patel can no longer get state handouts. His saviour: Credit
 
Patel and his family moved above the rural poverty line of Rs 816 per person per month some years ago, and so can’t access the lower-priced wheat, rice, sugar and oil, families below the poverty line receive from the government’s public distribution system.
 
Fortunately for Patel, he is well known in the village and the flower market. The local village shop is willing to give him oil, sugar and even seeds on credit, and the shop owner in the flower market is willing to give an advance payment for the flowers that will sell, Patel said.
 
Why it is difficult for Patel to go digital and cashless
 
Since demonetisation, the government has been pushing digital payments but most transactions still take place in cash.
 
Most farmers and traders IndiaSpend spoke to had bank accounts, but used cash. They said they either had too little money to put in a bank account or did not use debit or credit cards regularly. All transactions Patel made during the day were in cash: He filled petrol worth Rs 50 in his motorcycle in the morning, and bought a dozen bananas for Rs 40 in the afternoon.
 
Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
 
“Before depositing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after notebandi, I had used my bank account about two years ago,” Patel said, as his two-year-old granddaughter played in the field. His son, Kantilal, has an ATM card, but used it only once in 5-6 months to withdraw cash, as he had little money in his bank account. The nearest ATM and their bank branch is a 15-minute ride from their village.
 
The family has one basic cell phone they use to call relatives. Though Kantilal has used the Internet in the past, neither father nor son currently has access to the Internet as a smartphone was too expensive to afford.
 
For four months last year, the family used a Samsung smartphone, which they bought for Rs 8,000. “But someone stole the phone,” Kantilal said. He had used Internet on the phone only to access Facebook, he said, adding that they wouldn’t buy a new phone because it was too expensive–equivalent to almost all of their profit this season.
 
Patel’s family spends about Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 on household items every month.
 
Not everyone has a bank account. Jagganath Mahadeo Bhuyyer, 66, a trader in the market, said he had no plans to open a bank account. “I earn enough to eat twice a day, what’s the point of all this jhamela (rigmarole),” he said, when asked why he doesn’t have a bank account. “If I had a bigger business, I would have opened an account.”
 
For Patel, low flower prices mean he has to dip into his savings to pay Rs 130 a day to two labourers who help his family pluck flowers.
 
“We always face problems of water and electricity shortage,” said Patel “This year notebandi has spoiled the year for us.”
 
For our continuing coverage of #notebandi see Currency Chaos.
 
(Shah is a reporter/editor with IndiaSpend.)
 
We welcome feedback. Please write to respond@indiaspend.org. We reserve the right to edit responses for language and grammar.

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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