On Tuesday evening as you were waking up to vote, we were
sitting in shock in front of our television listening to an announcement from
the Prime Minister. He said that as of
midnight that night all 500 Rupee ($7.43 US) and 1000 Rupee ($14.86 US) notes
would no longer be legal tender. Mind
you, these are the two largest notes this country uses. So, now the 100 Rupee ($1.49 US) is the largest note available. The government
will be issuing new 500 Rupee notes and new 2000 Rupee notes, but none are
available now…at least not in our city.
And, the 2000 Rupee note is not scheduled to be released until February
2017. Modi also announced that all
banks and ATMs would be closed the following day to prepare for the change. Furthermore, there are caps on how much money
a person can theoretically take out of their bank account, in one day 10,000
Rupees ($148.60 US) up to a maximum of 20,000 Rupees ($297.20 US) in one week, but out of an ATM only 2,000 Rupees per
day. Yet, the reality is that there is NO
money to get.
There are huge lines at every bank and ATM. Tony has gone out every day this week since
the announcement to get money and has only come back successful twice…with
2,000 rupees ($29.72 US) each time. He
stood for hours in a line at an ATM yesterday only to get 3 persons away from
the machine and have it run out of money.
India is a cash society…very few people have credit cards
and even fewer establishments are capable of taking credit. We cannot pay our employees, nor can we buy
meat, vegetables or fruit from our regular shops because we have so little
cash. We are one of the fortunate ones
here because we have a bank account and we have credit cards. So, we are able to go to larger stores that
accept credit cards…but we are among a small minority.
The plan was implemented to crack down on corruption…“black
money” and counterfeit currency that are apparently rampant in this
country. “Black money” is money
illegally gained and kept in cash by people so that they can avoid paying taxes
on it. But, you might imagine how this plan has
caused tremendous havoc across this nation as everyone is scrambling to deposit
or exchange their now useless notes with 100 Rupee notes…Did I mention that
there are nearly 1.3 billion people here?!?!
It might have been a great plan, but all are suffering now because it was not properly implemented. Who knows how long it will take for banks and ATMs to have sufficient currency to accommodate the needs of the people…until then we wait. Rest assured…we are safe and healthy. We are not at all in danger. But, we do ask you to pray for all those who are struggling to provide for their families during this time. Please also pray for wisdom and discernment for us about how to proceed in the days and weeks to come.
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