BENGALURU: With banks closed and many ATMs going dry, people who were struggling to exchange old currency notes found a saviour at Bowring Hospital. V Krishnoji Rao, a veteran kite flyer from Bengaluru, along with three others, including retired bank employees extended help in exchanging old currencies.
Rao, a international kite flyer, along with his friends Chandrashekar, a retired bank employee, B D Shenoy, a retired Canara Bank manager and Rao’s son K Niranjan Rao, an undergraduate student, exchanged currencies for Rs 1 lakh at Bowring Hospital, on Sunday.
People with demonetised notes who were in distress were relieved after they found a helping hand. Rao said, “We fixed Rs 500 denomination to exchange with each person but there were many people who had Rs 1,000 notes and were finding it hard to buy medicines. We exchanged money for them too.”
Speaking to Express, Rao said, “I was disturbed reading the news that many people died while standing in queues outside banks and ATMs. As it was a holiday for banks on Sunday, we took Rs 1 lakh cash (Rs 100 denominations) to Bowring Hospital and exchanged them for the old notes. Nearly 150 people were benefited from this. As ATM kiosks in many places also ran out of cash, we planned to reach out to the people who are in distress.”
Krishnoji Rao, a resident of R T Nagar, has participated in kite flying competitions in many countries.