It has been 60 years since the death of Bhimrao Ambedkar – economist, iconic campaigner against caste and father of India’s Constitution. And this year, as has long been the practice, massive crowds of admirers converged on Chaityabhoomi, the site of his cremation in Mumbai’s Dadar area, on his death anniversary, December 6.
On the night of December 5, even as Mumbaikars were already queuing up to pay their respects at the seaside memorial, lakhs of people from other parts of the country lay down to rest at designated areas marked out by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in Shivaji Park, an open ground right next door.
By midnight, while many had stretched out to sleep, a few gamely stayed awake, fighting fatigue with long conversations about religion and caste.
Every year, the city’s municipal corporation licences out stalls to vendors from across the state who sell an assortment of books, CDs, busts, souvenirs and other memorabilia related to the Dalit leader.
This year, vendors said that they were concerned that the crowds might dip due to last month’s demonetisation announcement, which has led to a scarcity of cash in hand for many.
“Even after 26/11 we worried that the crowds would be less, but our people are not the kind to let these things prevent them from coming,” said Vijay Mohite, from Mumbai, who has been selling books at such occasions for 10 years now. “So far, there have not been as many people here as usual.”
Said Manish Minde, who was selling photographs and busts of Ambedkar and Gautama Buddha inside Shivaji Park, “People are buying small chillar [trinkets] items so we are worried we will run out of change. We will know for certain if the crowds have reduced only by tomorrow evening.”
His wife Rekha Minde added with a laugh: “One good thing has come of this at least. Last year, women used to give us fake Rs 500 notes. This year we don’t have that problem.”
Signs of rural distress
Kakasaheb and Savitri Kamble from Latur in central Maharashtra make a pilgrimage to Mumbai every year for the Ambedkar anniversary. The Kambles have two acres of land on which they grow sugarcane and tomatoes. They also work on others’ farms to supplement their income. Demonetisation has cut them sharply both ways.
“We are not getting labourers on our land because we have no change to pay them, nor are we getting work on anyone else’s land,” said Kakasaheb Kamble. “Tomato prices have crashed and in the local markets, nobody is accepting the new notes.”
The Kambles’ bank is 10 km from their village, not far by Kakasaheb Kamble’s estimation.
“We already had a monthly credit system with our local grocery shop and that was how we were managing,” said Savitri Kamble. “But now that the month is over, the shopkeeper is asking us for money. Where are we supposed to get it from?”
Ramesh Korde from Akola in Maharashtra also had complaints about demonetisation.
“Traders are treating us like thieves of our own crops,” said Korde. “We come early in the morning to the mandi and at 4 pm they tell us what rates they will give us and we have to accept it. Now they are saying we have to accept cheques only, but that leaves us with nothing in hand.”
Korde says he did not want to deposit cheques into his bank account because he has a three-year-old loan with the bank and he believes that if he puts in any money into his account, the bank will credit that amount against his loan.
“It is not that I do not want to pay the bank, but I also need to pay the labourers every week on market day, and buy new seeds,” said Korde. “This is the condition in which we are running our homes.”
Future hopes
But as in other parts of Maharashtra, a vein of optimism runs through the general dissatisfaction with demonetisation.
Bhausaheb More, from the same village as Ramesh Korde, works as a building contractor procuring steel for constructions.
“For the last 15 to 20 days, almost half our workers have returned home,” More said. “The entire industry is down.”
That said, he added that he felt demonetisation would help the economy.
“Poor people are suffering, but Modiji said acche din aane wale hai [good days will come] and now he is bringing them,” said More. “All those who got black money through lotteries have lost out and corruption has definitely gone down.”
A little distance away, Deepak Jadhav, a driver from Buldhana district of Maharashtra was talking to a small group to keep himself awake.
“I am not a [Bharatiya Janata] party man, but I hope that Modi will forgive our crop loans with this,” said Jadhav. “The Centre has a lot of schemes like NREGA [National Rural Employment Guarantee Act] which do not reach our villages because contractors take the money. Once the Centre gets more money, it will return to us in some way.”
Vidyavati, a woman who had spent three days travelling by train from Lucknow to Mumbai, countered him. “But if money does not come, what will we eat?” she said. “Of course there are problems at home. We are not getting any work.”
Vidyavati is from a community of ironsmiths, and she also works to collect scrap in a village near Lucknow. This work has dropped off sharply since demonetisation.
Jadhav accepted her point.
“I know that there are problems in this,” he said. “Old people are not getting their pensions, people cannot go to hospital and marriages are delayed. But Gautam Buddha said that there is suffering and there is a reason for it. If we can endure this, it will be for all our good.”
Roots in Ambedkar
The consensus on demonetisation seems to be that it is a good idea, but poorly implemented. Several people also pointed out that Ambedkar himself had suggested regular demonetisation to control hoarding and inflation.
“In The Problem of the Rupee, Babasaheb said that you should demonetise notes every 10 years,” said Rahul Kamble, a bank employee from Mumbai who was browsing through the books at Vijay Mohite’s stall. “The way in which it has been done is bad. You are making people stand in a line for their own money. Should they go for work or wait in queue?”
Ambedkar’s The Problem of the Rupee, published as a book in 1923, was based on his PhD thesis presented at the London School of Economics.
In an interview to The Indian Express in November, Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar said that one of several suggestions of how the rupee should be treated in that thesis was that high-value denominations should regularly be replaced to “end the menace of hoarding” and inflation.
What this sudden implementation has done, said Kamble, was to divert attention away from other problems.
“Are there no other problems in India that now all of us have to focus on this?” said Kamble. “Currency band toh hota hai, par aisa nahi.” Demonetisation can happen, but it should not be like this.
