Lesser number of people turned up at Chaityabhoomi due to notes ban and vendors’ business was also affected.
There has been a sharp decline in the number of people visiting Chaityabhoomi for paying tributes to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on the occasion of his 60th death anniversary due to the demonetisation campaign of the Modi government. At a time, when people are struggling to make both ends meet due to shortage of money many of them choose to stay away from visiting Ambedkar’s cremation site this year. Even though the Central Railway had ran special trains for serving passengers but many of them failed to turn up at Chaityabhoomi as they were running short of cash. There was a huge dip in the sale of books, CDs, busts, souvenirs and other memorabilia related to the Dalit leader. Even fewer vendors had erected their stall at the site as they expected a decline in their business due to notes ban.
“Every year, I visit Chaityabhoomi for paying tributes to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar but this time I had to skip the function due to massive cash crunch. If I had visited the site then, I would have had to incur travelling and food expenditure. The government’s demonetisation campaign is causing severe hardships to the common man,” said Satish Korde from Akola.
“This year very few customers had turned up at my stall to buy, books, CDs of Dr Ambedkar due to demonetisation. The government should have made some alternative arrangements before making such decision. It has become difficult for me to run my business. However this year I am not worried about offering change to customers as they are handing over 50 and 100 rupee notes to me,” said Samir More a vendor from Dadar.
“Every year, I used to purchase posters of Dr Ambedkar while visiting Chaityabhoomi. However, this year I am trying to save money as I am facing hardships while withdrawing my own money from the bank after demonetisation. The government had asked the citizens to bear the inconvenience for 50 days but now more than three weeks have passed but people are struggling to withdraw and deposit their hard earned money in banks. I have to stand in queue outside banks for depositing my money,” said Sudhir Gaekwad from Beed.
“Farmers have been affected due to demonetisation campaign as they are unable to withdraw money for purchasing seeds. The restriction imposed on co-operative society for carrying out banking transactions has created further problems for us. The government should disburse money to co-operative banks else farmers will be in trouble,” said Dinkar Kamble a farmer from Ahmednagar, who visited the spot inspite of cash crunch.
