I was in Kolkata attending a conference when the Prime Minister made the announcement. I did not pay much attention because I was more interested in knowing whether Hillary won or not. And then it stuck me. Oh my God! How will I get home from the airport? Scrambling around my bag I found Rs 400/- in hundred rupee notes but then if I spent it on the cab, what about the other things. Every one around me was making the same calculations. There was also glee. After all the black money hoarders had been caught pants down and what will they do? The overwhelming feeling was that it was a good decision.
I called up Rajinder, Sumitra's husband, and begged him to pick me up from the airport. Which he did.
The milk booth guy was accommodating. I could deposit Rs 500/- with him, he said, and buy milk and other products for that much worth as and when I needed.
Mr. Joshi, the man who delivers the newspaper, presented his bill and accepted Rs 500/- note on the condition that he will adjust it in the next month's bill.
The Eureka Forbes person came around for the 6-monthly service of my water purifier and figured out that I needed a new filter.
"They don't clean the water tank?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I cannot do anything. I have only Rs 500/- notes with me."
"Don't worry. I will accept it. Let us get the filter changed."
I was worried about Sumitra and Nanku Ram. Nanku Ram told me that he had managed to get the money from the bank.
"People are being stupid. You need lots of documents for exchanging money. But I filled two forms. Deposited my money and withdrew fresh. I got it done without any hassle."
It turned out Sumitra had stashed away Rs 100/- notes for emergency.
"I have money," she assured me. "I was only worried because I have to pay the tuition fees. The tuition person said that he will not accept the demonetised notes but that I can pay him by cheque. So I paid him by cheque."
So some one who normally would not accept cheques (after all most of the money earned from tuitions is unaccounted, never reported, no taxed paid) was willing to accept cheques.
I am not an economist and the economist in the family assures me that this will not curb black money. May be it will not. Assuredly it will not. But:
"Didi," Sumitra said giggling, her face wreathed in big smile," I will never forget Modiji. For at least one day he made the rich and the poor equal. The rich who have hoarded money now will know what it feels to be poor and have no spending money."
I called up Rajinder, Sumitra's husband, and begged him to pick me up from the airport. Which he did.
The milk booth guy was accommodating. I could deposit Rs 500/- with him, he said, and buy milk and other products for that much worth as and when I needed.
Mr. Joshi, the man who delivers the newspaper, presented his bill and accepted Rs 500/- note on the condition that he will adjust it in the next month's bill.
The Eureka Forbes person came around for the 6-monthly service of my water purifier and figured out that I needed a new filter.
"They don't clean the water tank?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I cannot do anything. I have only Rs 500/- notes with me."
"Don't worry. I will accept it. Let us get the filter changed."
I was worried about Sumitra and Nanku Ram. Nanku Ram told me that he had managed to get the money from the bank.
"People are being stupid. You need lots of documents for exchanging money. But I filled two forms. Deposited my money and withdrew fresh. I got it done without any hassle."
It turned out Sumitra had stashed away Rs 100/- notes for emergency.
"I have money," she assured me. "I was only worried because I have to pay the tuition fees. The tuition person said that he will not accept the demonetised notes but that I can pay him by cheque. So I paid him by cheque."
So some one who normally would not accept cheques (after all most of the money earned from tuitions is unaccounted, never reported, no taxed paid) was willing to accept cheques.
I am not an economist and the economist in the family assures me that this will not curb black money. May be it will not. Assuredly it will not. But:
"Didi," Sumitra said giggling, her face wreathed in big smile," I will never forget Modiji. For at least one day he made the rich and the poor equal. The rich who have hoarded money now will know what it feels to be poor and have no spending money."
As I write this, I have Rs.20/- and some coins in my pocket. Like most other "privileged" people who own bank accounts, cards and smartphones, I paid off all my bills on-line, procured groceries and vegetables via debit card, been happily travelling around the city using Olamoney, and buying whatever I wish to via Amazon. There is no urgent need for cash as such. I'm told that cheque withdrawal at one's own branch is the fastest method of getting cash, which theory I will test tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThe local shopkeepers are offering credit for small purchases. I've been telling them since many months to download Paytm or some such app on their respective smartphones and they've started to do so now, out of sheer necessity.
Of course, cash is cash, so I keep praying that my mother or I don't suddenly need an ambulance or the like, given our respective states of health. Otherwise, things are just fine and I hardly miss the feel of hard cash.
Being illiterate in macro-financial matters, I spoke to my auditor and several other financial professionals. Without exception and irrespective of political affiliation, they told me that Modi's government has taken the best possible step to flush out black money at the grass-roots level, and explained his strategy to me in simple terms.
Obviously, a lot of meticulous planning and expert advice have gone into this bold strategy. Clearly, Modi knew that he would be mercilessly attacked and that his own job and political future would be on the line. That he still went ahead, indicates that he and his government know what they are doing.
The government no doubt knows that much more black money is stashed away in overseas banks or gold or whatever - and they do not need the chief minister of Delhi to tell them that. I'm sure they have a plan to deal with it as well.
They did give the black-money hoarders fair warning, didn't they, with their disclosure scheme. And they did provide less-privileged citizens the opportunity to open zero-balance bank accounts. And they did promise to take drastic steps against the black economy. So we did have some kind of forewarning, though no one expected such a move from Modi.
Still. Overall, I am assured by professionals that in the mid-term, the economy will certainly get a good cleansing. In the long-term, we are all dead anyway.
I'm doing what I can to help out less-fortunate people known to me, like the maid and the building watchman, by paying some of their utility bills on-line and giving them some groceries, vegetables and food - and urging them to open a bank account. And I'm telling my friends to do the same.
Indians are Indians. Bribery and corruption will never be eradicated from our society. But an occasional shock-and-awe treatment will keep black-money hoarders scared, notwithstanding transient inconvenience to the common man, including self.
Henceforth, we will all take precautions, won't we, and keep our accounts in order, do most of our transactions digitally and keep our emergency cash only in small bills - as Modi et al must have intended?
Cheers ... SKS
Enjoyed reading your new post after such a long wait!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Supreet.
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