Maids and drivers take the cheque way

KOLKATA: Demonetisation, and the resultant cash crunch, has been a game-changer for

household economics

across the city. One of the many firsts that this liquidity crisis has spawned is even domestic helps, cooks, drivers and care-givers are now accepting

payment by cheque

instead of cash.

The practice is not widespread; many of those who comprise the lower-rung service sector do not have bank accounts. But examples of this dramatic shift in pay-day practices have started coming up in some Kolkata neighbourhoods.

Take

Sumu Barik

for instance. The house help suddenly needed Rs 5,000 in mid-November for her father's treatment. Sumu, who works as a part-time maid in five

Salt Lake

homes, understood how difficult it would be to get a cash advance. "I couldn't possibly ask any of my employers to stand in queue for my needs. So, I asked for a cheque," she said.

Her employer, Arunima Mukherjee of CD block, was only too willing to write one. Since Sumu hails from Contai in

East Midnapore

and doesn't have an account in any Kolkata bank, the cheque was credited to her husband Debabrata, who holds one at the local SBI branch.

In a plush high-rise in New Town, night attendant Durga Mondal "earned" a cheque for Rs 5,500 as a fortnight's pay from ailing

Sushila Haldar

. "I know this is only for a month. Things will be back to normal once this (cash) crisis is over," Durga said.