Signs of the crisis caused by the demonetidation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes blowing over were visible in Kerala on Wednesday with more ATMs becoming functional, increased availability of Rs 2,000 notes and more bank branches receiving bigger amounts of money for dispensing even as the State’s cooperative sector observed a shutdown in protest against the denial of permission for banks and societies in the sector to exchange notes.
Reports from across the State showed that there was a considerable drop in the number of people queuing up at bank branches for surrendering demonetised notes and collecting valid currencies and for withdrawing money using cheques and other means. However, bank officials said the number of people reaching the branches for depositing money had remained almost steady on Wednesday also.
Traders reported increased activity and sales volumes in the wholesale and retail essential commodities market on Wednesday in comparison to the first two working days of the week. “There seems to be a slight improvement but it would take several days for the situation to stabilise. There is not enough money in the people’s hands still,” said Moideenkutty, a wholesale rice trader at Valiyangadi, Kozhikode.
The impact of the demonetisation on the essential commodities market would not have been “this intense” if the Government had initiated the step in the third or fourth week of the month”, according to an office-bearer of traders’ outfit Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi. “The second week of the month is when the ordinary people and the salaried class generally approach the market,” he said.
M Devi Prasad, general manager of the State Bank of Travancore, said that there was no shortage of currency notes in Kerala presently but complaints were being raised from various corners that the hardships that the people were going through were yet to be over as there were not enough small-denomination notes to balance the presence of a large number of Rs 2,000 notes.
The authorities have already adopted measures to ensure smooth conduct of the annual pilgrimage to the lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala which opened on Tuesday evening for the pilgrimage. The Dhana lakshmi Bank and SBT have installed ATMs at Sannidhanam, the abode of lord Ayyappa, and Pamba, the base camp for Sabarimala to help the pilgrims.
Financial experts said that it might take many more days for the different sectors that had been hit by demonetisation of notes to stabilise. Most affected are the plantation, fisheries, construction, transportations and retail sectors. “The move has created a financial vacuum in various sectors all of a sudden and its effect is bound to be big. The filling of that vacuum might not happen in the same pace as it was created,” said MS Nair, a market expert in Kochi.
Stocks of indelible ink intended for putting marks on the fingers of those who reach the banks for exchanging the demonetised notes for valid ones reportedly arrived in the bank branches in the State by Wednesday evening. Sources said that usage of the indelible ink for putting identifying marks on customers’ fingers might start on Thursday.
Unleashing a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ink-mark decision, former Chief Minister and veteran Marxist VS Achuthanandan said, “Didn’t Modi put the ink seal on his own mother’s fingerIJ He cannot escape the curse of that 95-year-old mother.” He alleged that Modi’s move is equivalent to describing the common man as burglar.
Opposition leader in the State Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress, criticised Modi for demonetising the large-denomination notes by saying that the people were queuing up at the banks not for buying articles of luxury but for buying food to quell hunger. After pushing the people into hardships, Modi was humiliating them with the ink-mark move, Chennithala said.