New Delhi: With patience thinning out and queues getting longer, people in the city have pinned their hopes of getting some currency on the ‘Cash gaadi’ (Cash refilling van).
Men running out of these vehicles to make way through anxious crowds and refill Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) could be a common sight for many more days as the country grapples with demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 notes.Also Read: The Good, The Bad And the Bizarre of Currency Ban
In India, most of the banks have outsourced the job of refilling and maintaining ATMs.
President of the Cash Logistics Association of India, Rituraj Sinha, told News18 that when this announcement of demonetisation was made on November 9th in a joint address to the workers who replenish ATMs. He said he told them that neither financial incentive nor bonus would be provided for the work but it should be treated as a ‘national duty.’
At another area near Shahpur Jat, there was palpable anger in the growing crowd next to a closed ATM. “The cash van was supposed to reach at 7 pm, we are standing here since 5 pm,” said a disgruntled man standing to withdraw some cash.
But the mood changed when the public saw a cash van approaching. Within 30 minutes, the machine was loaded and got back to work tending cash. Mehboob Alam, who refilled the machine, did not complain. “Yes for the past couple of days, I have not had dinner or lunch properly, may be some tea or biscuits, but it’s the same case everywhere,” he said.
Most of the personnel involved in this operation that News18 spoke to earn a meagre Rs 6,000 to 8,000 a month, with some companies making an exception by paying their phone bills. ATMs which were loaded with Rs 4 lakhs before November 9 used to need refilling after a couple of days as they we were used sparingly. But now, they run out of cash within a few hours.
ATM personnel were roughed and abused in Noida’s Sector 18 and Delhi’s Akshardham.
Singh added that they still don’t mind this extra pressure as it was a ‘service to the nation.’Also Read: As Nation Faces Cash Crunch, This Tea-Seller Takes To Paytm
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