GUWAHATI, Nov 24 - Demonetisation has left families who have marriages coming up in a state of helplessness. The elaborate process of drawing cash for officially sealing the eternal bond is making the families of the brides and bridegrooms see red.
Sonapur resident Devananda Kalita, whose daughter�s marriage is on December 11 next, has engaged a group of boys on rotation basis to queue up in the nearest available ATM and draw cash. But with the everyday withdrawal limit from ATMs fixed at Rs 2,000, Kalita is in a dilemma as to how to pay the daily wages of the labourers he has engaged at his residence for various works and other workers involved in the preparations.
�You need a lot of cash daily. You have to arrange food for guests visiting you. Every day you buy something or the other� forget about the key expenses like decorations, catering, vehicles, etc. It is not possible to pay everything in cheque,� Kalita says.
Though the government has allowed withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh for wedding purpose, the stiff conditions laid down have failed to bring succour to these families.
According to the RBI notification on marriages, �Withdrawals (of Rs 2.5 lakh) can be made by either of the parents or the person getting married. Only one of them will be permitted to withdraw.�
The application for withdrawal should be accompanied by evidence of the wedding, including the invitation card, copies of receipts for advance payments already made, such as marriage hall booking and advance payments to caterers.
Further, there should be �a detailed list of persons to whom the cash withdrawn is proposed to be paid, together with a declaration from such persons that they do not have a bank account. The list should indicate the purpose for which the proposed payments are being made�.
�Now, if I have to arrange the documents as sought, I will have to skip all other work. Who will invite the guests? Who will do the other preparations?� Kalita, whose son is working outside and is scheduled to come home only a few days before the wedding, said.
�Even the ATMs are closed most of the time,� he added.
Azara resident Kripal Das, whose son is getting married next month, is also on the same boat.
�Some of the friends and family members helped me with some money. I feel the Rs 2.5 lakh amount is not enough. Expenditure at even an average wedding now comes to over Rs 5-6 lakh. Even if I withdraw Rs 24,000 every week (the upper limit) from the bank, I can withdraw less than a lakh in a month. The only option I have now is to scale down my expenditure. Maybe I will have to invite fewer guests, compromise on food, decorations, etc.,� he exclaims, citing that marriages in this part of the country are arranged months ahead and it is not easy to reschedule them.
Some bank managers in the city admitted that the guidelines are a bit too �harsh�.
�A couple of persons had come to avail the cash for weddings last week. We gave them the list of documents required. They haven�t come back after that,� the manager of a UCO Bank branch here said. �But then there is one more way to look at it. Some may try to withdraw cash fraudulently just by printing some wedding cards,� he added.
GUWAHATI, Nov 24 - Demonetisation has left families who have marriages coming up in a state of helplessness. The elaborate process of drawing cash for officially sealing the eternal bond is making the families of the brides and bridegrooms see red.
Sonapur resident Devananda Kalita, whose daughter�s marriage is on December 11 next, has engaged a group of boys on rotation basis to queue up in the nearest available ATM and draw cash. But with the everyday withdrawal limit from ATMs fixed at Rs 2,000, Kalita is in a dilemma as to how to pay the daily wages of the labourers he has engaged at his residence for various works and other workers involved in the preparations.
�You need a lot of cash daily. You have to arrange food for guests visiting you. Every day you buy something or the other� forget about the key expenses like decorations, catering, vehicles, etc. It is not possible to pay everything in cheque,� Kalita says.
Though the government has allowed withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh for wedding purpose, the stiff conditions laid down have failed to bring succour to these families.
According to the RBI notification on marriages, �Withdrawals (of Rs 2.5 lakh) can be made by either of the parents or the person getting married. Only one of them will be permitted to withdraw.�
The application for withdrawal should be accompanied by evidence of the wedding, including the invitation card, copies of receipts for advance payments already made, such as marriage hall booking and advance payments to caterers.
Further, there should be �a detailed list of persons to whom the cash withdrawn is proposed to be paid, together with a declaration from such persons that they do not have a bank account. The list should indicate the purpose for which the proposed payments are being made�.
�Now, if I have to arrange the documents as sought, I will have to skip all other work. Who will invite the guests? Who will do the other preparations?� Kalita, whose son is working outside and is scheduled to come home only a few days before the wedding, said.
�Even the ATMs are closed most of the time,� he added.
Azara resident Kripal Das, whose son is getting married next month, is also on the same boat.
�Some of the friends and family members helped me with some money. I feel the Rs 2.5 lakh amount is not enough. Expenditure at even an average wedding now comes to over Rs 5-6 lakh. Even if I withdraw Rs 24,000 every week (the upper limit) from the bank, I can withdraw less than a lakh in a month. The only option I have now is to scale down my expenditure. Maybe I will have to invite fewer guests, compromise on food, decorations, etc.,� he exclaims, citing that marriages in this part of the country are arranged months ahead and it is not easy to reschedule them.
Some bank managers in the city admitted that the guidelines are a bit too �harsh�.
�A couple of persons had come to avail the cash for weddings last week. We gave them the list of documents required. They haven�t come back after that,� the manager of a UCO Bank branch here said. �But then there is one more way to look at it. Some may try to withdraw cash fraudulently just by printing some wedding cards,� he added.
