New Delhi, Nov 14 (Huff Post) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday it will take another 50 days for normalization of currency usage in the country. That may take a huge toll on people, going by 15 deaths that have taken place in just four days. And these are just the ones that got reported.
In Mumbai, a hospital refused to admit an ill newborn because the parents didn't have legal tender. The child died. The government has allowed the use of old currency notes only in government-run hospitals.
An 18 month old baby died in Vizag as the parents didn't have money to buy medicines. The private hospital refused to accept old currency notes of Rs 500 or 1,000.
Doctors in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh stopped treating one year old Kush, suffering from high fever, after his parents ran out of 100 rupee notes. The parents brought him home, where he soon died, his father's 500 rupee notes now worthless.
In Pali district of Rajasthan, the ambulance wouldn't take Champalal Meghwal's new born to hospital as he only had Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. By the time Meghwal arranged 100 rupee notes, the child had died.
In Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh, a washerwoman came to know of demonetisation only when she reached a bank to deposit two 1,000 rupee notes she had saved. When told these were no longer legal tender, she died of shock.
Kandukuri Vinoda, 55, a home-maker in Mahubabad district of Telangana, thought her cash savings of Rs 54 lakh were now worthless. She had earned the cash by selling land to pay for her husband's treatment, daughter's dowry and buy a smaller piece of land. She committed suicide.
In Howrah, West Bengal, a man tense over demonetisation murdered his wife because she returned empty handed from the ATM. He felt she should have waited longer in the queue.
In Kaimur district of Bihar, a 45 year old man died of a massive heart attack as he feared his daughter's would-be in-laws may no longer accept his old currency notes in dowry. He had saved up Rs 35,000.
In Thalassery, Kerala, a 45 year man went to deposit Rs 5 lakh for the second day, after being unsuccessful on the first. He fell from the second floor while filling the deposit slip and died. An employee of the state electricity board, the man had taken the money as loan just the previous day. Local media reports said he was disturbed as he had not been able to change the currency notes.
Vishwas Vartak, 72, died of a massive heart attack while waiting to deposit old currency notes at a bank in Mumbai.
A 47 year old farmer had a heart attack waiting to exchange old currency notes in Tarapur in Gujarat. He needed money to pay farm labour.
In Alappuzha, Kerala, 75 year old Karthikeyan collapsed before a bank and died. He had been waiting for an hour in the queue.
In Udupi in Karnataka, a 96 year old man died waiting in a long queue at the bank, and the bank hadn't even opened yet.
69 year old Vinay Kumar Pandey, a retired BSNL employee, died waiting in a queue at the bank to exchange currency notes in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
In Bhopal, a State Bank of India cashier died of heart attack. Bank employees have been putting in extra hours and handling large queues.
A businessman in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, felt chest pain soon after watching prime minister Narendra Modi's 8 November announcement of demonetisation. He died before the doctor could arrive.