Patients suffer, poor go without wages on Bengaluru outskirts
A local pharmacist confirmed the situation was bad. \"I know tens of poor patients who have stopped taking their medicines.
BENGALURU: People living on the city's outskirts are having the worst time since demonetisation as they have only a couple of ATMs and bank branches to fall back on.
Visit Old Chandapura, Yadavanahalli, Attibele and their surroundings and you hear about patients having to go without their essential medication and auto drivers having few customers as people don’t have the cash to pay them.
Sixty two year old Harischandrachari of Halechandapura, complains he is having a hard time buying his wife her diabetes and high blood pressure medication. "There are just a couple of ATMs and bank branches in and around Halechandapura. Every day hundreds of people stand in queue and by 1 pm they stop dispensing cash. I need Rs 30 for my wife's medicines daily, but I don’t have it. So since yesterday she has gone without them. Now a local politician has promised to get me some money today. If he does not deliver, I will have to wait a few more days,” he said, adding that the BP and diabetes tablets prescribed for his wife were not available in government hospitals. "The medical shop owner is giving credit to tens of poor patients. It is not easy standing front of him empty handed,” he lamented.
A local pharmacist confirmed the situation was bad. "I know tens of poor patients who have stopped taking their medicines. Many of them are diabetic and heart patients. Missing medication even for a short duration can impact their health,” he pointed out.
If patients are suffering, auto drivers in these parts are going without business too. One driver, Narasimha Patel, said his daily income had fallen to Rs 200 from an average of Rs 1,200 earlier. "No one wants to get into autos as they dont have the money to pay the fare. My house rent is Rs 6,000 and I don’t have the money to pay it. I will have to get a loan from local moneylenders,” he added.
In Yadavanahalli where several new housing projects are underway , the contractors are struggling to pay weekly wages. “I have 12 labourers working for me. Their average daily salary is Rs 800 and I can't pay them till all the existing restrictions are withdrawn”, said Mr. Jayaram, a contractor.
From Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000 only
As chaos and cash crunch continued for the eighth consecutive day, the government on Thursday announced that Friday onwards, people will get only Rs 2,000 by exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at bank counters instead of the earlier limit of Rs 4,500. To reduce the long queues outside banks and ATMs, it has been decided that people can get cash up to Rs 2,000 per day, by swiping debit cards at select petrol pumps where POS machines are of the State Bank of India.