Rushing to meet a deadline that never was

People throng RBI to convert demonetised currency, unaware that the deadline ended in December

March 31, 2017 12:21 am | Updated 08:55 am IST - Chennai

Chennai, 30/03/2017 : People from various districts arrive at RBI headquarters to change the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes on Thursday. Photo :S. R. Raghunathan

Chennai, 30/03/2017 : People from various districts arrive at RBI headquarters to change the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes on Thursday. Photo :S. R. Raghunathan

A. Veerappan knows the math doesn’t add up. Yet, he tries: “I am here at least thrice each week. Each day I’m here, I lose Rs. 250.” He then connects his daily wage at the construction site to the wad of currency in his pocket: “How many weeks would I have had work to make Rs. 23,500?”

Mr. Veerappan talks of his Rs. 23,500 in the past tense, because the money is in demonetised currency. He was among the many outside the Regional Office of the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday, hoping to deposit the withdrawn Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes. They were not aware that the RBI’s revised deadline for those within the country during November 9 and December 30, 2016 had expired on December 30 and had only heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 announcement.

“There may be some who, for some reason, are not able to deposit their old 500 or 1,000 rupee notes by 30th December 2016. They can go to specified offices of the Reserve Bank of India up to 31st March 2017 and deposit the notes after submitting a declaration form,” the PM had said.

At some point, someone outside the RBI prepared a list. There were 61 names in all: they declared that they held a total of Rs. 9,14,500 in demonetised currency. The lowest was Rs. 500; someone was holding Rs. 90,000.

Some, like Mr. Veerappan, held their parents’ money. “My mother does not have a bank account. This is the money she earned by cooking mid-day meals at a school back home in Viluppuram and by saving the money I send her,” he said. Mr. Veerappan, who is a construction worker, had been hospitalised during the November-December window to deposit demonetised currency. “I fell and broke my hand at a construction site and was at the Tambaram government hospital,” he said, pointing to a gash on his swollen hand. Since his discharge, Mr. Veerappan comes to the gates of the RBI multiple times each week, hoping the rules will change spontaneously one day, like it already did.

Some had hospital records to prove they could not have made the trip to the bank during the window. “I live alone and was bed-ridden during December. I had no one to deposit these notes for me,” said R. Bhanumathi (67). A retired government engineer, she had kept aside Rs. 27,500 of her pension at home for medicines. She had come once in February and intends to come again on Friday, in the hope that the PM’s offer still stands. Like everyone else, she is at pains to explain that the money was not obtained by illegal means. “Each time I come here, those at the gate deny us entry and tell us we have to throw our money in the dustbin or burn it,” she said.

Some were bereaved. “This is my mother’s money. She lives in Tiruvanamalai and is a construction worker. My husband passed away towards the end of last year. I was so disturbed, I cannot even recall when he died, and could not deposit the money for her,” said P. Rajeswari, who works in Chennai as a domestic help. She had all of Rs. 4,500 with her. “I had to fight with my employers to come here today. How can I throw this money away? We are people who put even a one-rupee-coin to our eyes if we happen to drop it,” she said.

Some, mostly women, had found squirreled-away money in long-forgotten places. S. Sumati of Viluppuram had found Rs. 10,000 “inside a purse, kept inside a dabba.” S. Bhuvaneswari of Kalpakkam found Rs. 15,000 across several handbags: “I had money even in a paruppu dabba. I didn’t want to ask my husband for everything.” Rs. 6,000 fell out when S. Ravi of Maraimalai Nagar dropped a file containing LIC loan documents. When Mettupalayam’s G.K. Jayanthi’s brother’s came to after a surgery, he told her of the Rs. 8,000 in his cupboard; she clutches her handbag instinctively when she mentions the money. M. Rahumathullah of Pudukkottai would spend Rs. 2,000 travelling to attempt to deposit Rs. 4,000 his wife had found after the grace window. A woman from Pattabiram said she found two Rs. 1,000 notes while shifting house. R. Kalavathi of Perungalathur said her mother found Rs. 1,500 tucked inside an ATM card holder.

Some became friends. An 18-year-old boy had made the trip from Mangaluru with Rs. 3,000 he earned working part-time at a shop selling kulfis. He reached on Wednesday, not realising the RBI was on holiday for Ugadi. So he stayed the night with R. Nikhil, who hoped to deposit Rs. 30,500 of his own. They were back Thursday. “I told my parents I was going to Kerala with friends,” said the boy, who did not want to be identified.

Those outside the RBI had been approached by those claiming to be able to exchange money. The rates varied - Rs. 3,0000 for Rs. 10,000; Rs. 250 for each Rs. 1,000; Rs. 6,000 for Rs. 10,000. “I saw someone promise Rs. 1,500 for her Rs. 4,500 from a woman. He took the copy of an Aadhaar card and walked away without even leaving his number with her,” said Ms. Bhanumathi, the retired engineer.

Resident Indians out of the country during November 9 - December 30, 2016 are allowed to deposit demonetised currency till Friday; Non Resident Indians out of the country during the same period can do so till June 30, 2017.

However, even some of them seemed to face troubles. S. Pandian from Madurai’s Melur, who visiting home after four years in Muscat, had Rs. 45,000 with him; he has a monthly salary of Rs. 18,000. “I am not very highly educated and no one told me I had to get a Customs’ clearance at the airport,” he said. G. Vijaybabu, a Marine Engineer, said that he knew of 11 others in the same profession who faced the same problem. He had Rs. 35,000 on him. “I was sailing from September 2016 - February 2017. No one instructed me about Customs formalities either in Malaysia - where we docked - or at the airport in India,” he said. A retired government employee from Rajapalayam - who did not want to be named for this story - said he was in the United States during the grace period. “Our house was locked and I had Rs. 5,000 inside. It was part of my pension. What do I do with it now,” he said, as he waited for a relative, who had gone into the bank with their Customs-approved money along with the Rs. 5,000.

“The Prime Minister made sure everyone heard of his first announcement. Why didn’t we hear of this change of rule?” asked Ms. Bhuvaneswari, from Kalpakkam. She had travelled to four bank branches during the day before being directed to the RBI. While none of those who assembled outside the RBI had relevant information, most had relied on dubious social media forwards. “During the window, I managed to exchange most of the Rs. 3 lakh we had. I came here in January but was turned away. Now, I saw on WhatsApp that there is a new window between March 27-31. So, I have been coming here for four days now,” said an individual, who was holding on to Rs. 55,000. He said he would return Friday.

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