'Change' we need, cry Dhenkanal people

DHENKANAL: Coins, it seems, are one of those things which we never have enough in our purse. Quarrelling with auto rickshaw drivers, road side vendors, betel shop owners or newspaper hawkers over coins is a common phenomenon. These days, some shop owners even give chocolates in place of coins.
In Dhenkanal, scarcity of coins has reached such a state that it has almost paralyzed business transaction.Everyone is perturbed and none has a solution.
"I feel affronted in the vegetable market almost everyday. Neither the vendors nor I have enough change, and it is impossible to make transaction," said Brundabati Panda, a house wife.
According to Dipti Pattnaik, a college-goer, "Everyday, it becomes an ordeal for me to go to college in an auto-rickshaw. They ask for the exact fare. After a long altercation, I request nearby shop owners for change. Often, they are also lacking it."
In the absence of any stock of coin, telephone exchanges, rail ticket counters and banks are adopting a strategy to pull coin from the customers' pocket.
"As there is hardly any supply of coins, we are asking every passenger to tender exact fare," said an official at the rail ticket counter. "It often leads to an altercation, but we are helpless," he informed.
While some shop owners have started replacing coins with chocolates, others are trying different other ways.
"I have failed to get coins from banks. As a result, I am knocking the doors of beggars and eunuchs who collect coins from passengers in trains and other places of the town. But they are charging Rs 10 for coins worth Rs 100," said Subrat Sahoo, a vegetable vendor. Some self help groups are also doing the same business in Dhenkanal.
Prashant Sahoo, an auto rickshaw driver said he was stocking chocolates worth Re.1, or 50 paise which would save him from daily confrontations with passengers.
"The coin crunch is a matter of great concern. We have written letters to the regional branch of the State bank of India, Bhubaneswar and its local branch about the insufficient supply of coins in the market, but none have responded till now," said Santosh Rath, president of the Federation of All Orissa Traders Association and president of Dhenkanal District Chamber of Commerce.
K Madhusudan Rao, chief branch manager, State Bank of India, Dhenkanal said, "We are helpless as we are getting a very small amount of coins from the Reserve Bank of India. They are able to fulfil only one-fourth of our demand."