A month later, demonetisation sting just as painful

NEW DELHI: Even a day to the month after high denomination notes were banned, no respite was in sight for cash-strapped people on Wednesday. They could be seen arguing with a guard at one bank branch and helplessly pleading with another at a different bank. During a visit to Axis Bank in Sector 16 in Noida, adjoining Delhi, 30-40 customers could be seen arguing with the guard for not letting them know that the bank had run out of cash and requesting him to let them in. "The bank ran out of cash at 10.30 a.m. I have been telling people to return, but they won't listen," the bank guard said. At the same time, customers complained they were never informed clearly whether there was any cash left or not. "Are we fools for standing here for hours, only to hear that there's no money left," an angry young woman shouted at the guard. The desperation for cash was palpable. Marmik, a young employee of HCL Technologies, said he was standing in the bank queue since 6.30 a.m. but was yet to get cash even at 2 p.m. He said he had arrived at the bank straight after doing his night shift. "There were 40-odd people queued outside the bank in the morning, when there were still three hours to its opening time. By the time my turn came around 1 p.m. the bank officials announced they were out of cash. My shift starts at 5:30 p.m. and I'm now not only cashless, but sleepless too," said Marmik. The situation at the adjoining Kotak branch was worse since it received no cash for the day. "We didn't receive any cash today (Wednesday). We had cash on Monday. We are not certain if we will on Thursday," Customer Service Manager Ishwar told IANS.