HYDERABAD: A little more than 24 hours after demonetisation was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kandukuri Srinivas of Shanigapuram in Mahabubabad lost his mother Vinoda.
A year later, Srinivas wonders what the brouhaha over the exercise was all about.
On the wee hours of November 10, 2016, 56-year-old Vinoda hanged herself to death thinking the Rs 20 lakh she had received in cash by selling her ancestral property -- mostly in Rs 500 and Rs 1,00 notes -- was of no value.
Srinivas is still confused as to what was the entire demonetisation brouhaha was about and what change did it actually cause in the society.
Speaking to Express on Monday, a day before the first anniversary of demonetisation Srinivas said, "My mother was a strong-willed woman who used to handle finances of our house and had no health issues. The night when demonetisation was announced, we were at the funeral of my uncle, in a nearby village and returned home the same night. The whole way back home and next day we discussed consequences of demonetisation."
He further said, "On November 10 my wife woke up around 3am as we had to start our journey to Khammam for getting my father to dialysis center there. To utter shock, my wife saw my mother dead. My father had been given sleeping pills. We did not have any money for conducting funeral as we did not possess any new currency notes. We are still in shock about the incident, especially my 63-year-old father, whose kidneys have failed and who always used to think that he will die before my mother."
When asked what does he think of demonetisation, Srinivas said, "I do not know what to say as I am not that knowledgeable about it. All I can say is, I have not witnessed any change in my village. People owning black money always find ways of turning it white. Government must have initiated it with good intentions. It should make figures public for people to know how much black money was unearthed due to demonetisation."
Sharing one benefit of demonetisation Srinivas said, "After demonetisation the land value near Warangal city decreased from being Rs 15-20 lakhs per unit to Rs 5-6 lakh."
Death of Vinoda grabbed national attention last year, as a spate of deaths were being reported from across the country due to demonetisation.
A police case was also booked under section 174 of CrPC. When contacted, police officials of Mahbubabad rural police station said on Monday that "90 percent of the reason" behind Vinoda committing suicide was family dispute and demonetisation was only partly a reason. The case has been closed now and has not resulted in conviction of anyone.