KOZHIKODE: The banks and ATM counters witnessed huge rush of customers on the third consecutive day of demonetisation on Saturday even as most of the ATMs ran out of stock within hours of filling them. The traders, hoteliers, vegetable vendors and markets registered thin sales. Many shops downed shutters while the fish sellers sold out stocks at low rates due to lack of demand. Agents selling Rs 100 notes for Rs 1,000 denomination currency made quick bucks in front of Beverages Corporation outlets. The rate of the day was Rs 800 for Rs 1,000, said a Bevco employee.
Abdul Rassack, an autorickshaw driver, told DC that the autorickshaws in the city received trips only between ATM counters and banks. “People rushed in autos to ATM counters where 100 rupee notes were available, but many had to return disappointed due to the long queues,” he pointed out. The consumer goods distributors of the region suspended distribution as there was no sale in urban as well as rural shops. All-Kerala Distributors’ Association general secretary Babu Kunnoth told DC that the distributers were unable to repay the bank loans and the consumer goods had piled up in godowns for the last many days.
The traders’ community welcomed the move of the union government but protested against the delay in sorting out the currency crisis. At an emergency meeting called by Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithy, the traders said that the malls, shops and trading streets were deserted for the last few days. Many traders downed the shutters and even many of the street vendors of SM Street took a break, they added. The Consumer Goods Distributors Association state president C.E. Chakkunni said that government should ensure more counters, extend working schedules and deploy additional staff for currency filling in ATMs on a war-footing.
“The traders would survive only if the public gets sufficient money for transactions,” he added. Mr M.K. Raghavan MP in a letter to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister said that while withdrawing 14 lakh crore notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations which constitute 87 percent of the 16 lakh crore currency of the country, the government should have taken more precautions. “The move, though well-intentioned, pauperised the entire masses,” he added. “The government should ensure currency in ATMs and sufficient counters in banks,” he added.
