Oupada: Six months after demonetization, a tribal woman in Oupada block of Balasore district has not exchanged her invalid `500 notes as the poor woman had no idea about the need of exchange till she came to the market Thursday to buy clothes.
She was deeply worried when she came to know about the uselessness of the old currencies which she had saved from years of hard work.
According to reports, Budhini Kunar (50), a tribal woman of Gadasahi, admitted that she could not know the necessity of exchanging 14 old `500 notes even though the Central government carried out a massive campaign about demonetization since November 8, 2017.
The matter came to light when the woman came to Darkaholi market with her old currencies Thursday. After purchasing some clothes and sarees, she handed out the notes to the shop owner. But the shop owner was shocked to see invalid notes and refused to accept them.
For the gullible Budhini, it was a bolt from the blue. She had no alternative but to return home dejected. But what made her more worried that she had 13 similar notes at her house.
Later, she revealed this to a relative, Natabar Giri,. The news spread in the villages. All the villagers mocked at the stupidity of the tribal woman, but none had alerted her about the need for exchanging the notes.
Budhini said: “I saved money from my earnings by stitching sal leaves, farm work, by selling goats and fowls. I had spent some money for the marriage of my daughter. What was left with me was meant for the marriage of my younger daughter.”
Budhini cursed her fate for her ignorance to exchange the old notes which are of no use for her.
The case of Budhini is just an example. Sources said, scores of ignorant and gullible people like Budhini, who have never seen or heard about banks, have lost their hard earned money this way. PNN
