Sunday 27 November 2016

Demoneization Woes (0)

Demonetization is simply a ploy to finish off all the small businesses, and entrench the big business friends.
Those who think its all about corruption are innocents.

Zakeena Seethi Now big baazar has tied up with SBI , n you can draw money from their outlet..
So, those who havent been going there, better start going .. :/
 
Sridhar Lakshmanan one should go with one of the sit silently and watch how they are treated in the bank

Aparna Krishnan The rich only pontificate and shower advice. Catch them rubbing shoulders with the poor.

Vipin Sharma Please stop spreading unconfirmed rumours Modiji's one correct move and bold decision has finished off terror networks, drug cartels, real estate mafias, hawala netwrks, fakecurrency syndicates, betting syndicates, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, corrupt businessmen and traders, professionals like corrupt lawyers, judges, doctors, engineering and medical colleges, do not be blind to all this going around since 08th November 2016 a great date in the history of India.
Mark Johnston I admire your optimism Vipin but I suspect that the corrupt and criminal will almost all survive and thrive in spite of this. From a distance this strikes me as a move to strongly favour corporations over individuals and the claims that it is intended to stop corruption and criminality appear to be merely misdirection.
Ramanan Jagannathan Aparna Krishnan, excluded people become included only when you get to them the banking infrastructure and make their lives better. aren't we making things better by transferring subsidies directly to their accounts cutting off middlemen ? you don't make their lives better by continuing the status quo. i look at technology as the savior and you don't. that is the difference here between you, me or Sridhar

Sridhar Lakshmanan there is a whole lot of literature on how these technologies have failed them, y they are not appropriate worst the very presence is not there at least if you put technology and ask to use, for ex 95% of people with debit card in india use it only to draw cash in ATM, the other way to draw the line is to look at time spent in remote rural areas and the people there
Aparna Krishnan "the other way to draw the line is to look at time spent in remote rural areas and the people there" meaning ?
Sridhar Lakshmanan look at technology as the savior and you don't. that is the difference here between you, me or Sridhar Lakshmanan
Sridhar Lakshmanan The difference i see between people who are in direct contact and day to day contact and those otherwise the gap is huge and is a faunction of that distance, the farther they are more impractical are the suggestions more superficial the understanding, if some one sits abroad i don't have to say much
Aparna Krishnan The indian urbans are maybe marginally better, if at all.
Sridhar Lakshmanan modern banking as a concept started by the rich for the rich, the structure is not suited to cater to the pooor, this is the history of banking
 
Ramanan Jagannathan Sridhar, i trust in technology more than in people to make their life better. we have had enough with people stealing away what is normally due for the poor. have we forgotten Rajiv Gandhis statement that for every 1 rupee spent, only 7 paise reaches the poor ?
Ramanan Jagannathan also, what is the alternate if this is not the way and how is it different from what we have tried out in the past ? please elaborate
Sridhar Lakshmanan sir i worked in those projects and realised less than 7 paise reaches through technology
Ramanan Jagannathan we can discuss this when we meet in person as i would like to hear from your experience. as Aparna Krishnan says, you should write about it
Sridhar Lakshmanan Ramanan Jagannathan check NBFC, SHG andMFI and how they contribute, banks run by the poor for the poor in their door steps and how they use technology , many are digitised and some are linked o internet
Sridhar Lakshmanan there is a very good rbi report on financial inclusion, the govt has issues orders to create 27 such institutions
Sridhar Lakshmanan Ramanan Jagannathan i know you love to read , check this book Banker to the poor by mohamad yunus , it will highlight many of these
Hariharan Sukumar The very entrepreneurial spirit of nation is being killed. Govt wants us to make a beeline to these big shops for purchase and work for salary/wage as a slave day and night..as our hon'able PM does every day to make our nation super power. We are following the foot steps of US into doomsday..
 
 

"When i am not educated, when i am not welcome in banks, when i don't get internet in most places and i don't get mobile connect  I am forced to keep assuming i am interested in banking. 
U r seeing the whole world as you. Not more than 5 % of people in India are like you."
(via Sridhar Lakshmanan)



Logesh Prabakaran
some may call it "a slight inconvenience"
or ask
"why would poor suffer who do not have 500s 1000s"
some even said
"poor must have gone thru times like this without money they can manage"
some neglected there is any suffering at all and said "i know ground reality, i spoke to my maid and watchman, no poor is suffering, everyone is happy"
some flashed their shiny plastic cards and "compared themselves to soldiers in the border"
some gave judgement like God "these people stood in Sun whole day clapping for political parties for money, let them take this too"
some asked me "why are you concerned how are you affected"
saw one thing common in all of them, "they all will survive without a job and pay, none of them will go hungry"
i will survive too but for some reason couldn't stop thinking about all those people out there invisible to many of us

Naveen Manikandan Periasamy
I agree that it is a inconvenience for the poor and middle class, but for day to day transactions does the flower seller or buyer use high denominations?
 · Reply · 4y
Ramanan Jagannathan
the problem is because of the lesser number of smaller denomination available which potentially makes transactions difficult - this is the point. it was the case on 9th November. In my place, it has come back to normalcy to a great extent. In villages like what Aparna Krishnan mentions, where cash flow is minimal even in normal scenario, this could really impact.


"Its a simple rule ur money is safe with you and with nobody else, and you know how to use it to your own benefit. When u put nation convenience all that it gets clouded. 
This is why women wear jewels and we encourage them. The poor understand it very very well"
(via Sridhar Lakshmanan)
 

Rajesh Mehar Many are citing:
'But you can pay by electronic means...'
OR
'But you can exchange with any ID proof in the nearest post office or bank's
OR
'There will be hardships we must bear for only a few days'
Such people dont realize the enormous privilege they have to exercise any one of these options.
Anila Gupta That privilege came thru HONESTY.
Rajesh Mehar Hahahahaha!



"Out of the six lakh-odd villages in India, there is presence of commercial bank branches and regional rural bank branches in only 17 per cent of them. Rest of the villages are covered by the delivery channels of the District Cooperative Central Banks and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, that have been rendered practically defunct with effect from November 14," Biswas said.
"They are neither in position to take money, or deposit whatever money they have collected in the commercial banks and get fresh currency in its place as they do not have permission to do so," he said of the cooperative societies.
"If people in rural areas didn't get valid currency how would they purchase commodities for their daily needs.
"Peasants have taken loans for cultivation, and now is the harvesting time. Due to lack of liquid cash in the market, they are not able to sell their product. How will they repay the loan and withdraw fresh money for sowing for the next season?
"The government says peasants have to go to the government-run shops to get seeds and fertilisers. But these government stores are located only in the district headquarters.
"By the time they go to district headquarters and carry the seeds and fertilisers from over-crowded government stores to the remote places, the season will pass before they can cultivate their land."
"Vegetable markets that used to transact 2.5 crores, now has only 40 lakhs, almost all rural economic activities have started to dry out or have folded up", said a senior officer in rural livelihood this morning. The plight of rural SHGs are worse, almost 40%of the 5.5 lakh groups registered with the government and an equal number not registered have their accounts with cooperative banks, all of them have been almost frozen now because they can't accept the old currency. Now the government agency is getting each one of these groups to create new accounts with nationalised banks, but the trouble is many of them are not accessible to rural communities. Someone talks about the impracticality for the banks in establishing remote units. One of the officials mentioned about the women who had to travel 43 kms to reach the nearest bank and she couldn't leave her 2 kids at home, so, had to pay for it and travel the distance, only to be turned away as the bank ran out of money and asked to come the next day. " why should I pay so much to access my money ", she had asked a helpless official. The discussion yet again got even more stories of how the small industries have suffered. " you see, our traditional people have never really trusted the banks, they are used to keeping money in pots and later tucked away, they don't know how to operate ATMs, many villagers don't remember numbers, to tell them that 'you do everything by phone' does not make sense, what if they forget and everything gets locked up? ", said another official. " 90% of wealth on this country is with 10% people and they will survive, it's the remaining 90% that has to make do with the 10% wealth that has to suffer, that is our fate ", another one concluded... Meanwhile my friend from Canada tells me, I should think everything is fine in India because the Chinese media calls demonitisation a success. Ironically, in our subsequent discussion on livelihoods, rural women acknowledge how there is an increasing dumping of commercial products of cheap quality and cheaper price from China with which they are unable to compete, we agree to work with some of these rural enterprises now, just now, I record this as I travel to another villager in a rickety road with this young lady very happy that we actually will work with her... She will neither be appreciated for her efforts nor encouraged by Chinese media of course, but, do their lives and efforts matter?



In the clinic one gentleman, while paying with a 2000/- rupee note told me that there are inconviniences, but yet he is all for demonetization. Immediately, as if on cue, I started giving his details of how it affected people away from his club.
... and i slowly realized that not a word was entering his head. One cannot talk to those whose hearts are closed.
Sadly that includes the well off Indians, though they sometimes make some noises of concern, while leading their golden lives.
Sadly, these are those who stride the corridors of policy making as well.
Vigneshwaran Karthikeyan, Narayana Sarma Ghadiyaram Venkata and 26 others
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    • 4y
  • it is easier to see how other's heads are closed but more difficult to see how our own heads are closed. how we shut down conversations.
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    • 4y
  • Futile to engage with such people. Waste of energy .
    We are fully occupied discussing Mr Modi and his schemes .
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    • 4y
  • Aparna garu, you have a point for the poor. You are so empathetic that you made their lives as yours. But people living in different spheres have their own experiences. Right adjacent to my office there are two wine shops and not a single day did I see them without customers. 80% belong to lower middle class and BPL. Can I generalize that for all poor? No. Only those who know you can feel what you are saying. And somewhere I see that you want everyone to think/ live like you. Instead of sharing your thoughts, you try to force them. It is natural for what you have been doing but for a new person it would be alien.
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    • 4y
    • well, tolstoy said "“I sit on a man's back choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that i am sorry for him and wish to lighten his load by all means possible....except by getting off his back.” !!
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      • 4y
    • i have little interest in sugar coating the exploitation we the rich indulge in, implicit and explicit. Adults need to have the strength to look into the mirror.
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      • 4y
    • I force nobody - I just show them the mirror ðŸ™‚
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      • 4y
    • Wine shops are accepting the defunct notes the poor have - which are not redeemable anywhere else !! And a drunkard is a different story. And why they become dunks - please come to my village. All the unemployed youth today are drunkards.
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      • 4y
    • Thanx Aparna for creating this awareness....
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      • 4y
    • We all rave and rant. I too. What we need is to create a different more sustainable society. All our efforts there are conming to nought, as vaster policies set us back many years at a time. Including this one.
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      • 4y
  • I saw many humans on whom there were no clothes.
    I saw many clothes in which there were no humans.
    Rumi
 
Raghunandan -
So we walked. Aditi and I. Across the lawns of India gate, on a beautiful winter day in Delhi. 'Lets go to the Crafts Museum', she said.
I asked the Chat wala who passed by me, for a cone of peanuts. Twenty rupees, he said. Do you accept a card? I asked him. For a moment, he stared at me, then his face creased into a smile. Hum gareeb hai, padhe likhe nahin hai, yeh sub hum nahin kar payenge.
The Pochampalli weavers and the potters from Chhattisgarh at the Crafts Museum, did not accept cards. We did not have enough money either. So we promised to return tomorrow. We laughed, as we bantered about who was more anti-national than the other. The shop at the Museum accepted cards, and gave a 1 percent discount as well. Good move.
At India Gate, I bought Aditi an ice-cream, in a turnaround from three plus decades past; those days she bought me ice-creams from her scholarship money. No, the ice-cream wallah also did not accept cards, though he sold a bloody good ice cream - Ek Dum, Mango, by Mother Diary.
So many anti-nationals, even in a kilometer radius around India Gate!


Many many years ago, when I was in school, I heard the following story:
Once Badshah Akbar' s army was engaged in a prolonged war. As a result his royal wealth ("shahi khazana") was nearly exhausted.
He asked Birbal, "How to replenish my wealth."
Birbal: You can get it from Dhanna Seth.(merchant).
Akbar was amazed as to how a trader/ merchant could have so much money. Still he went to Dhanna Seth.
Dhanna Seth offered: Badshah Akbar, I have huge wealth, take as much as you want."
Akbar: Dhanna Seth, How did you accumulate so much wealth. Tell me without any fear of punishment.
Dhanna: I earned it by adultrating grains & spices.
Akbar got angry, he took all of Dhanna's wealth and ordered him that from then on he would collect the horse dung in his royal stable. Dhanna agreed.
Years passed by. Again Akbar had to fight a long drawn battle. Again his royal wealth exhausted & again Birbal advised Akbar to go to Dhanna Seth for help.
Akbar wondered : Birbal, I had ordered him to work in royal stable to collect horse dung, How on earth he can have such a wealth."
Birbal: Badshah, you can ask him but only he can help you.
Akbar went to Dhanna. Dhanna gave Akbar huge wealth.
Akbar: Dhanna Seth, I had earlier taken all your wealth, How did you accumulate it again?
Dhanna: From the stable - incharge & horse attendants. They used to underfeed the horses. I threatened them that I will complain to Badshah that they did not feed horses enough, hence the horse dung quantity was less. So they bribed me to keep silent.
Akbar got very angry again & ordered Dhanna to start counting the waves at sea & returned to his Palace with Dhanna's wealth.
As luck would have it, Akbar fought another war, royal wealth emptied out and once again Birbal advised Akbar to go to Dhanna Seth for help.
Akbar could not believe as to how Dhanna could earn so much by counting waves at sea.
Akbar asked Dhanna for the help.
Dhanna: Badshah, Take as much as you want but this time around I will not change my profession.
Akbar: Ok, but tell me how did you earn money by counting Water waves at sea.
Dhanna: Very simple, I used to stop merchant's ships & boats far away from sea shore. I showed them your orders that I was counting waves & their ships & boats would disturb or break the waves hence their ships or boats should stay away. Badshah, these merchants then used to bribe me to let them reach the shore & unload their merchandise.
So Badshah understood that Dhanna Seth can earn by engaging in manipulations & bribery from any profession.
Demonetisation or no demonetisation, the Dhanna Seths of our society will always find a way to earn & accumulate black money.


Did that famous beggar get a swiping machine after becoming a beggar, or did he turn beggar after getting a swiping machine?


I went to pick up Sankranthi clothes for my children - Varalu's Rajesh, Bharat and Sandeep. And Anita's daughter Keerthana because she has started drinking milk daily after a year's refusal and I had promised her a gift for that. She will definitely remember the promise. Then my daughter added to the purchases. She insisted on buying an Anarkali dress for Kavya, Eashwaramma's granddaughter. When I refused budget saying it was not 'essential', she said she would get it from her savings. It would use up 1/4 of her 'savings', but that was her choice. We ran a total bill of 2000/-.
The shop we go to is a small shop on a small street run by a Tamil Muslim couple. A friendly couple who are eager to help us choose and friendly in every possible way. They were pleased with our large scale shopping.
Then we started talking about demonetization. Thsy said that did not have a card reader. They bought one from the bank for 4000/-, and in one day it gave up working. They have returned it, and have been waiting for a replacement for a month. Many shoppers are unhappy about this, and go away..
When I asked if the sales had been hit, the husband answered, "Would you ever have seen the shop this empty in this season, and could we have spoken to you thus ? Yes, sales are down by 50% at least.". I asked if there was any good, and they vaguely nodded, "Yes, there is always some good. It will show up in time." I asked her insisting, "What good ?" She said, "Oh, the educated and the rich much be benefitting. We, the poor have lost."

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