# India

Ex-gratia for note ban victims announced

SNS | Lucknow | December 7, 2016 9:15 am

In an effort to reach out to the common man, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday announced ex-gratia for currency note ban victims.
“The chief minister has announced assistance of Rs.2 lakh each to families of victims who died while exchanging currency notes or in ATM queues after verification,” a government spokesperson said. 
The announcement comes days after one Razia immolated herself, leaving behind a suicide note saying, “Failing to exchange six notes of Rs.500 despite attempts at different branches of banks in the old city area for five days”.
“The chief minister has announced financial assistance of Rs.5 lakh to the family members of Razia, who committed suicide in Aligarh,” the spokesperson added.
Razia, a 45-year-old daily wage labourer allegedly attempted suicide on November 20 after failing to exchange old notes for five-long days in Aligarh and was rushed to the district hospital in a serious condition. There, she told media persons that she took the severe step “out of total helplessness as her four children had not eaten anything for three days”. On December 4, a Delhi hospital declared her dead.
Razia was a resident of Shahjamal locality at Delhi Gate area of Aligarh.
In another incident, an SBI employee, 58-year-old Anant Mukund Bapat, was also found dead at his home in Soaner town of Nagpur district on November 20, leaving behind a suicide note citing reasons for “demonetisation”.
Apart from the two, over 50 deaths related to demonetisation have been reported from all across the country.
It's been a month now since the central government on November 8 announced scrapping of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes in a bid to flush out black money. However, there seems no respite for the common man, and banks and ATMs continue to witness long serpentine queues. While many hailed the move, the opposition continued protests against it.

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