Not ban: New announcement breathes life here and how

KOLKATA: Reshmi Mitra, a Lake Town resident, heaved a sigh of relief sitting at a well-known wedding card showroom on M.G. Road. The Centre's decision to allow households celebrating weddings to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh from banks has come as a boon to her family with Mitra's only son Rahul going to tie the knot on February 5.
"As soon as I came to know about the Centre's announcement on television, I did not waste time and rushed out of my home to buy wedding cards here.I badly need the cash to meet expenses relating to my son's wedding," Mitra said. The amount to be drawn from a nationalized bank would be spent for making advance payment to a florist, the owner of a ceremony house and to the owner of a confectionery. "I have placed the order of making 200 cards for the marriage ceremony. But I told the shop owner to keep ready at least a couple of cards for my convenience which will help me drawing the special cash from the bank," she said.
Gopal Mukherjee, a resident of Kalindi, was seen frantically searching for a wedding card at a showroom on M.G. Road. Mukherjee was accompanying Payel, his daughter who is going to get married on February 5. "This was a much awaited breather for people like us who are running short of cash to ensure a smooth marriage ceremony at home. I was hesitating to pay even Rs 500 to a photographer as I had to bear several other expenses in cash. Now one wedding card will help me securing Rs 2.5 lakh in cash. I need to pay decorator and the caterer in cash to ensure a smooth service," Mukherjee said.
The decision is also likely to improve the wedding card industry. According to Shyamal Saha, the owner of Shubham, a wedding card showroom the card business had gone down alarmingly due to cash crunch. "Now we hope to do some brisk business as the Centre's decision to bail out households celebrating wedding ceremonies will generate some amount of profit for us," Saha said. According to Sudesh Sharma, the owner of a wedding card showroom the Centre's announcement would likely to give some business to 300 such card traders in M.G. Road, College Street, Surja Sen Street among other areas.