Demonetisation quite plain and painful in unorganised sector

BENGALURU: Over the past fortnight, the effects of demonetisation have been quite plain and painful in the unorganised sector. It’s an everyday struggle as small vendors suffer a huge dip in their collection while labourers are left with no wages or work to meet ends. Express spoke to a few of them on how they are surviving against the odds.

Ahmed | Age: 47 |  Chaat seller
Ahmed and his family live in a rented house near Shivajinagar. The demonetisation drive, Ahmed says, has taken a large chunk of his earnings as people do not have cash.

“Most of the food items I sell cost either Rs 30 or Rs 40 per plate. From noon to 9pm, Rukiya (his wife) and I used to conduct business worth Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. Everything has changed since the new notes were introduced. We are unable to make half of what we used to,” he said.
He has two school-going children.

The couple has been selling food items near Commercial Street for over a decade now.
Explaining his constraints, Ahmed said that it has become difficult to raise enough money to even buy tomatoes and onions among other items for his business.

“Since all my earnings go to my family, I have no savings or a bank account. The cash crunch, I fear, will push me towards debt,” he said.

However, he is hopeful that the situation will return to normal soon. “If not, I will have to ask my son to quit school and assist in looking after the family,” he added.

Venkatesh | Age: 45 |  Flower vendor
In a corner on Veerapillai Street in the city, Venkatesh has been selling flowers with his mother Lakshmi for the past two-and-a-half decades. Ever since demonetisation was announced, Venkatesh has been witnessing a steady decline in his income. “We had never faced such a financial crunch before,” he said.
The income they generated by selling flowers has shrunk by 66 per cent in the last 15 days. “Earlier, we used to sell goods worth Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 on a daily basis, of which we could make an earning of Rs 500. What can we do if we only earn Rs 1,000?” he asked.

He resides at Anepalya in the city with his mother, wife H Devi and two children. His recent income, he says, is inadequate to make ends meet. “We don’t have a bank account. All that we earn is enough to meet only our daily demands. If business continues to be this dull, we will have to explore other options to sustain the family,” he said.

Kannan | Age: 27 | Daily wage labourer

If not for the charitable gesture of his employer, Kannan says he and his wife would have been forced to beg. Kannan, his wife Vijayalakshmi, and a group of other labourers are working at a construction site in Banashankari and are being fed by the contractor.
“That’s all we are getting now — food. We have not received payment for the past two weeks,” Kannan said. Kannan has left his parents and younger brother back in Kolar district. Though his brother does menial jobs, Kannan and his wife are the primary breadwinners. Kannan used to travel home every two weeks to give money to his parents, but he has not been able to do so since November 8. “They have resorted to borrowing from people. I can’t ask the contractor to send money to my parents because they do not have a bank account. Without salary we can’t go home. We cannot insist that the salaries be paid because we might lose our jobs. We have to be understanding. How will the owner pay salaries if he can’t take cash out from bank,” he said.

Karthik Kumar | Age: 32 | Migrant labourer
Karthik Kumar and his family spend about six months in Bengaluru and six months in their village near Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu. He says his bank has been turning him away due to lack of change for the high denomination notes he is paid with.
He and his wife Mutthu earn up to Rs 500 and Rs 300 respectively. The money he earns, he deposits it every month in his mothers’ account, who lives alone in the village. “I used to deposit money in the Bengaluru branch of a bank we have back home. When I went last Tuesday, bank personnel insisted that I deposit the money at my home branch,” he said.
“We cannot afford to travel more than 300 km every week to deposit money. We can’t keep it safe with us either,” he said. The Rs 2,000 denomination too has caused problems for him. “When we are trying to save every penny, having a Rs 2,000 note is a problem as we are forced to buy more to get change,” he added.

Zarina | Age: 37 | Artisan

Zarina, her husband Saleem and daughter Ayesha hail from Ahmedabad and have been residing on a footpath in front of Cantonment Railway Station.
To a question, she said that she had heard about old notes being taken out of circulation but is not sure if it has made any difference.
“In Bengaluru or any other city, if we sell our wares we can make a maximum of Rs 200 a day. So, to earn Rs 500, my husband and I have to roam around the city for three days,” said Ayesha as she started to cook on the footpath.
“People with money might have faced problems. But, we don’t have any money. If our wares do not sell, we will beg and feed ourselves. There is always a tomorrow where we will earn enough for us to survive,” she added.

Mehboob Pasha | Age: 20|
Construction labourer
Mehboob Pasha and his two brothers work in different parts of Bengaluru. They moved from Raichur district. For Mehboob, who started working as a construction labourer a month ago, demonetisation has put him in a personal crisis.
Mehboob told Express that he had arrived in the city with his brothers with little money. A few days later he was left only with a Rs 500 note. This was a couple of days after the demonetisation move. Then, his employer gave him Rs 1,000 as salary.
“When I went to the shop with the money, they told me that both the denominations have been withdrawn. They asked to me to go to the bank to deposit the money,” he said. Since he did not have a bank account to deposit the money, he was forced to stand in a queue for almost a day to exchange the notes. “I lost a day’s earning. Since we receive a meagre salary, we can’t afford to take leave,” he said. Echoing similar concerns was his relative, who did not wish to be named. “Even now we are paid in old notes. We have been asking the contractor to give new notes as we can’t afford to stand in a queue and lose a day,” she added.