November 8, 2017
#Nov8BlackDay Demonetisation: A snapshot of the deaths that resulted from it
Demonetisation has been disastrous for the Indian economy. It was a bad decision, and then badly implemented. It has been universally panned. However, it not only had a negative economic impact but deep social impact too, both from immediate and long-term perspectives.
More than 100 people lost their lives, many from their health not permitting them to stand in long queues outside banks and ATMs. Numerous people lost their jobs, as a result of business owners not having enough cash to pay salaries, which resulted from their not making money as they could not sell their goods, as buyers didn’t have cash. Ninety per cent of Indians work in the informal sector, which consists of small setups, where dealings are done in cash.
Here we present a few incidents depicting the way in which demonetisation impacted the common man. These incidents took place during the period when demonetisation was in force, that is, from November 8 to December 30, 2016.
- On November 14, in Odisha, the failure of Sudarsin Surin of Marangabahal village to convince an auto-rickshaw driver to take his ailing two-year old son to Sambalpur Hospital, as he only had the old Rs 500 notes, led to the death of the child.
- A newborn baby died in Rajasthan’s Pali district after an ambulance refused to take the child to a hospital as the father could not arrange Rs 100 notes on time.
- A farmer from Raigarh, Chhattisgarh committed suicide as he was upset over not being able to exchange Rs 3,000, which he was supposed to send to his stranded children in Tamil Nadu.
- A 47-year old-farmer, who had to pay for farm labour, died of heart attack while waiting to exchange old currency notes in Tarapur, Gujarat.
- A 69-year-old retired BSNL employee died waiting in a queue at a bank in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh to exchange currency notes.
- Four days before his daughter’s wedding, Sukhdev Singh died of a heart attack in Tarn Taran, Punjab, as he was unable to buy groceries and other items due to shortage of new currency notes.
- A man from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh who had received Rs 70 lakh in advance for selling his land, died of a heart attack while watching PM Narendra Modi’s speech announcing demonetisation.
- A retired school teacher, Raghunath Verma (70), in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh, died waiting outside a bank. He went to withdraw money for meeting the marriage expenses of his daughter.
- A 72-year-old man from Mumbai died of a massive heart attack while waiting to deposit old currency notes at a bank.
- On November 18, Sheikh Islamuddin, a resident of the Kolkata Port area, who had stood in queue in the wee hours, collapsed on reaching home. He was pronounced brought dead.
- An 18-month-old baby died in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as the parents did not have money to buy medicines after a private hospital had refused old currency notes.
- A middle-aged woman from Chikballapur district of Karnataka committed suicide after the Rs 15,000 she had taken to the bank for exchanging were allegedly lost or stolen.
- On December 1, a 32-day old baby died as her mother, Arguna Khatoon, waited in a crowded room to withdraw money at the United Bank of India in Balrampur, Bihar.
- A 55-year-old homemaker in Mahubabad district of Telangana committed suicide because she thought her cash savings of Rs 54 lakh were now worthless.
- Noel Topno, a senior official posted at a branch of the Central Bank of India in Siliguri, not being able to take the pressure of over-work as a result of the implementation of demonetisation, collapsed in office on the afternoon of December 16 and died of a suspected cardiac arrest.
নোটবাতিলের ফলে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত সাধারণ মানুষ
কেন্দ্রীয় সরকারের হঠকারী নোটবাতিলের সিদ্ধান্ত ভারতের অর্থনীতিকে ধ্বংস করে দিয়েছে।
শুধু তাই নয়, সাধারণ মানুষের জীবনেও বিপর্যয়ের সূত্রপাত ঘটিয়েছে এই অমানবিক সিদ্ধান্ত। কেন্দ্রের এই ঔদ্ধত্বের ফলে ১০০ জনেরও বেশি মানুষ প্রাণ হারিয়েছেন, এটিএম ও ব্যাঙ্কের দীর্ঘ লাইনে দাঁড়িয়ে। লক্ষ লক্ষ মানুষ কাজ হারিয়েছেন কারণ মালিকদের কাছে টাকা ছিল না মজুরি দেওয়ার। নব্বই শতাংশ ভারতীয় অসংগঠিত ক্ষেত্রে কাজ করেন, যার বেশীর ভাগ জায়গায় নগদে কাজ হয়।
এমনই কিছু হৃদয়বিদারক ঘটনা তুলে ধরা হল এখানে:
- On November 14, in Odisha, the failure of Sudarsin Surin of Marangabahal village to convince an auto-rickshaw driver to take his ailing two-year old son to Sambalpur Hospital, as he only had the old Rs 500 notes, led to the death of the child.
- A newborn baby died in Rajasthan’s Pali district after an ambulance refused to take the child to a hospital as the father could not arrange Rs 100 notes on time.
- A farmer from Raigarh, Chhattisgarh committed suicide as he was upset over not being able to exchange Rs 3,000, which he was supposed to send to his stranded children in Tamil Nadu.
- A 47-year old-farmer, who had to pay for farm labour, died of heart attack while waiting to exchange old currency notes in Tarapur, Gujarat.
- A 69-year-old retired BSNL employee died waiting in a queue at a bank in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh to exchange currency notes.
- Four days before his daughter’s wedding, Sukhdev Singh died of a heart attack in Tarn Taran, Punjab, as he was unable to buy groceries and other items due to shortage of new currency notes.
- A man from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh who had received Rs 70 lakh in advance for selling his land, died of a heart attack while watching PM Narendra Modi’s speech announcing demonetisation.
- A retired school teacher, Raghunath Verma (70), in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh, died waiting outside a bank. He went to withdraw money for meeting the marriage expenses of his daughter.
- A 72-year-old man from Mumbai died of a massive heart attack while waiting to deposit old currency notes at a bank.
- On November 18, Sheikh Islamuddin, a resident of the Kolkata Port area, who had stood in queue in the wee hours, collapsed on reaching home. He was pronounced brought dead.
- An 18-month-old baby died in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as the parents did not have money to buy medicines after a private hospital had refused old currency notes.
- A middle-aged woman from Chikballapur district of Karnataka committed suicide after the Rs 15,000 she had taken to the bank for exchanging were allegedly lost or stolen.
- On December 1, a 32-day old baby died as her mother, Arguna Khatoon, waited in a crowded room to withdraw money at the United Bank of India in Balrampur, Bihar.
- A 55-year-old homemaker in Mahubabad district of Telangana committed suicide because she thought her cash savings of Rs 54 lakh were now worthless.
- Noel Topno, a senior official posted at a branch of the Central Bank of India in Siliguri, not being able to take the pressure of over-work as a result of the implementation of demonetisation, collapsed in office on the afternoon of December 16 and died of a suspected cardiac arrest.
Image source: The Indian Express
