Bread & Barter: Swap system back in vogue

DHANBAD: Scarcity of cash has forced the villagers of Palmo village in

Bandarkupi Panchayat under Giridih

block to opt for the barter system to meet their household requirements. Villagers are giving away their own goods in exchange for food and other items.

Supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetization move, villagers have resolve to promote cashless transactions through this system.

“We are not aware about the recent activities in these villages, and if at all the villagers have resorted to the barter system. If they are pursuing these activities properly, then they cannot be questioned. But possible irregularities and exploitations of illiterate or deprived villagers, who are not able to evaluate the actual value of their goods or services, cannot be ruled out”, Giridih DDC, Virendra Bhushan, said, adding that he would launch a probe into the matter.

Bhushan also said that the step (barter system) cannot be taken positively, as cashless system involves direct circulation of money through an electronic medium. Although government officials and bankers doing the rounds in the remote areas to help the villagers, if needed, the administration said it will directly monitor all activities to deal with such issues.

“Initially, I was given the Rs 2,000 currency note for construction work in the village. However, local vendors refused to accept the big note. Finally, I returned the money to the landlord and urged him to give us food grains instead. Since then, we have begun accepting food grains like rice, pulses etc to meet our needs,” Pappu Das, a construction supervisor in Palmo village, said.

“In the absence of cash, I had to exchange almost 60 kg of paddy with other items from a local trader,” Shivlal Kol, a daily wage worker in Matrukha village under Bandarkupi Panchayat, said.

“The villagers, who are facing a

cash crunch

, are exchanging goods or services to meet ends. At this stage, they cannot be stopped unless the situation stabilizes or the authorities concerned take appropriate steps to resolve their problems,” village mukhiya,

Jitendra Kumar Pandey

, said.