cash crunch and the revised
guidelines now force us to
conduct weddings without cash
- Bijaya Nanda Debta
Bhubaneswar resident whose wedding is
scheduled for Dec 14
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 23: Jatni resident Bijaya Nanda Debta has been running from pillar to post for the past few days trying to get declarations that would allow him to exchange cash from banks.
The 28-year-old is set to tie the knot here on December 14. But the Centre's revised guidelines on the withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh for conducting weddings post-demonetisation of higher value notes has thrown a spanner in the works.
"I have booked a kalyan mandap, talked to florists and finalised an orchestra for my reception. I have already spent Rs 1 lakh. There is still a lot to do, including hiring a caterer, booking hotel rooms for guests, cars for transportation, a brass band for the baraat and more, for which I need another around Rs 3 lakh," he said, adding that he did not have enough cash to go ahead with the preparations.
According to the new guidelines issued by the Centre, Debta has to provide evidence of the wedding, including the invitation card, copies of receipts for advance payments already made - as marriage hall booking, advance payments to caterers. He also has to furnish a detailed list of persons to whom he proposed to pay the cash withdrawn along with their declarations that they did not have bank accounts (for amounts higher than Rs 10,000).
"I withdrew Rs 2 lakh from my account before the decision to demonetise was announced. After the announcement, I had to surrender the cash in the bank, as most of the notes I was given were the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 ones. Now, the revised guideline says that I cannot withdraw that cash," he said. Debta said he was contemplating withdrawing money from his father's account.
He said that it was necessary to have enough cash in hand while conducting a wedding as it was impossible to do all things using plastic money.
"Demonetisation has triggered a cash crunch and the revised guidelines now force us to conduct weddings without cash. It is impossible to find people who do not have bank accounts these days," he said.
Other families in the city are also facing a situation.
IT professional Sandeep Samal has been trying to arrange money for his brother's wedding on November 27 for the past week. He has not been able to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh, the permissible limit for marriages from the bank.
"There was no cash when we went to the bank. The next time we went, they asked for a detailed list of persons to whom we proposed to pay the cash withdrawn. They also wanted their declarations about not having an account," Samal said.
"I am running out of time and cannot wait any longer to withdraw money from my savings account," he added.
However, he has nearly completed the preparations thanks to his account being with a private bank.
"The preparation is almost done, most of the payments were already made. The Rs 2.5 lakh cash would have been a bonus, but I have dropped plans of getting it considering the modalities. Instead, I have decided to go for cash withdrawals like a general person and complete the preparations," he added.
Samal and his family are also counting on their rapport with different stakeholders for making payments.
"We still have to pay the florist and the caterer. Thankfully, they are familiar with us and have agreed to supply the order before we make the payment," said Samal.
Ananta Prasad, who has scheduled his younger sister's wedding in December, feels the guidelines should be relaxed to a certain extent to ease people's problems.
"I have been running to the bank daily for the past week but, they said preference would be given to those who have weddings in November. They are not willing to comprehend that preparations for a wedding begin a month in advance," the social worker said.
He added that hosting a wedding involved doing a number of things for the bride's side.
"There are a number of places where one cannot use plastic money and there are places where one has to make advance payment. The situation is really dicey," he added.