The worst affected in the chaos and long queues that ensued after the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are the senior citizens and the physically challenged. In the absence of separate queues for them, reaching a bank counter has become a Herculean task.
Most banks are located and designed in such a way that the narrow entrances do not allow for a separate queue. This has resulted in the senior citizens and the physically challenged struggling in the same queue as others. In Dwarka, the situation seems the worst in banks located in sectors 5, 6, 10 and 12, and around Ashirvad Chowk in Sector 5, especially in those on the first and second floors.
Both the Sector 12 branch of Bank of India and the Sector 10 branch of State Bank of India are located on the first floor. Owing to this, only a single queue is possible outside them. "In the absence of a separate queue, it is tough for people such as me to reach the counter," said Surabhi Gupta, a senior citizen from Sector 10. "There is no point having separate queues inside the branch if it is not even possible to reach them."
The ICICI and HDFC branches in Sector 4 are located on the ground floor, but still face the same problem. "I have tried to visit the bank thrice in the past week, but I haven't even been able to enter," said Shanti Kohli, a senior citizen from Sector 11. "There was no separate queue for senior citizens and I got no help from those standing in line. I sought help from the security guard and a bank official managing the queue, but that, too went in vain. What are we to do?"
Have the bank officials failed to identify this problem? Or is it that they have not been able to implement the government's directives for separate queues for senior citizens and the physically challenged. It's high time something was done about this, as both categories of people continue to bear the brunt of this mismanagement.
