New Delhi: With abolished currency notes in the pocket, a family from Mayur Vihar phase-1 in East Delhi had to face lots of difficulties in purchasing the necessary items required to perform the last rites of one of their family member. Gaurav Sehgal, who lost his uncle on Monday, had to argue with an ambulance driver even over the payment issue. Ghazipur crematorium is accepting the old currency notes, but it required lots of formalities before accepting it.
“We live in Mayur Vihar Phase-1 and lost our uncle today morning. After his sudden demise, we went to purchase ‘arthi’ (casket) and other items. However, we did not have the required Rs 100 note to pay the money required.
“We received a bill of around Rs 2,437, and the shopkeeper asked us to pay in Rs 100 denominations. The shopkeeper refused to take outdated currency. He simply refused to sell the items to us and asked us to leave his place. It was a painful experience for us. However, later on, we managed to procure a Rs 2,000 note and paid him the money,” said Mr Seghal.
Meanwhile, due to this tussle, the funeral got delayed by a couple of hours. At last, when they reached the Ghazipur crematorium and offered the ambulance Rs 1,000/500 notes, the ambulance driver refused to accept them. They asked everyone at the crematorium, but no one had it either. Finally, an unknown man came forward and exchanged these notes with Rs 100 denominations. “Government must take some action to avert such situation as this denomination process caused a lot of trouble even in services such as this,” said Mr Seghal.