Many turn to beggars for change

NEW DELHI: Until three days ago, most people went past 10-yearold Seema without as much as second glance.

Now, shopkeepers and auto wallahs approach her every day to exchange their big denomination notes. Seema is a beggar near Hanuman Mandir.

She, however, is smart and refuses the offer with a smile every time. “I know those notes are of no use. Why would I give my money? My mother has asked me to be careful and I have spread the message,” she said.

Ajay, her 10-year-old friend, agreed. “How have we suddenly become so important? From shopkeepers to auto drivers, all of them have been asking us for money. One person even tried to fool me by giving a ₹1,000 note and asked me to hand over my cash to him, but I refused,” he said.

The situation near the Hanuman temple in Delhi, where host of women come from UP and even MP just to beg, is no better.

Kamla has no usable currency since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonitisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes.

The money, she had earned over the past two months is of no use as she exchanged her change for ₹500 notes to make her purse less bulky just a night before.

Whatever change she was left with was taken from her by a shopkeeper.

“I have not eaten the whole day because I do not have money. The money I was saving up to repay a debt is useless now. I do not have a bank account where I can deposit this money or an identity card that I can use to get it replaced from the bank,” she said.

“I sit at the temple for extra hours but don’t give any money. Earlier, I made ₹ 500 in a day now I can’t even make ₹30. I had to ask some of them to buy me food,” she added.

58-year-old Ramawatar, who sits at the Noida Sector 12 market, agreed. He said the past two days were harsh.

“I have not been able to get even a single rupee. Whatever money you see in my bowl is actually my own,” he said.