Bhubaneswar, Nov. 17: Software professional Sandeep Mohapatra, 29, was very happy when he managed to get his old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes exchanged from the bank on November 13 following the Centre's decision to demonetise higher value currency notes.
The Rasulgarh resident said he received Rs 4,000 from a State Bank of India branch on November 11. "Excited at the prospect of getting hold of the new currency note, I asked for two notes of Rs 2,000," he said.
Almost a week later, he is still trying to figure out how to spend the money. The new Rs 2,000 note has only added to the pain of the common man already troubled by the demonetisation exercise.
Mohapatra said: "I did not realise at the time that spending it would become such a tedious task," he said, adding that the notes were still intact in his wallet. He said traders across the city were not keen to accept the notes and were asking people to buy more than they needed.
Sources said the traders were hesitant to accept the notes, wary of running out of change. Those buying products worth Rs 1,000 or less are being asked to spend more so that they have to shell out less change.
Mohapatra's woes are mirrored in the struggles of Siddharth Sarangi, a 28-year-old marketing executive. He was given four notes of Rs 2,000 which, he thought, would help tide him over the demonetisation-induced cash crunch.
The Palasuni resident said: "Buying grocery items is a problem. Being a bachelor, I buy groceries worth not more than Rs 300 every three or four days. I have four new Rs 2,000 notes I received from the bank on November 13. I'm finding it almost impossible to make use of them."
Saheed Nagar resident Narendra Dhal, 46, said spending the new note has become the greatest challenge of the demonetisation exercise.
"Even when the Rs 1,000 notes were valid, few traders would accept them because of the lack of change. Now, the government has introduced the Rs 2,000 note, which makes buying essential items an even more difficult task," the contractor said.
Dhal said the government should have introduced the new Rs 500 before bring the Rs 2,000 notes into circulation. "I try my luck every day," he said, adding that he had later withdrawn Rs 5,000 from an SBI branch.
"I waited for almost half an hour to get Rs 100 notes as the branch had run out of them. Once bitten twice shy aptly describes my situation," he said.
The much-awaited Rs 500 notes have since reached the state capital. Reserve Bank of India, Bhubaneswar, general manager Sarada Prasanna Mohanty yesterday displayed the note to newspersons . But the notes are yet make an appearance at ATMs and banks.
"I exchanged Rs 4,000 from the Reserve Bank of India office today and was hoping to get the new Rs 500 note, but that did not happen," said Sucheta Priyadarshini, a 27-year-old homemaker from Baramunda.
All of them hope the new Rs 500 notes, when widely circulated, would largely end their misery.
