How to Get Rid of Demonetization Pains

Standing in long queues in front of banks seems to have become a full-time profession. People wake up early in the morning, get ready, pack their lunch boxes, and stand in bank queues to withdraw cash. With many employees receiving their salaries, normal snake-like queues are turning into anacondas. Some people have started “hoarding” cash for “bad” times. The political opposition has yet again found another agenda to not let the parliament work.

While the market seems to have recovered from the demonetization setback, the common man (and woman) remains in trouble. Fortunately, there’s a way out: go cashless. Though this solution looks rather obvious, yet it’s not accepted and appreciated both by people and businessmen as much as it should be. The real problem is not a lack of cash. The real problem is the unwillingness to adapt to the change.

Just imagine a scenario where most small businesses and sellers started accepting digital currency. Would the demonetization still look so grim? The other day a news channel was featuring a story that many small-business owners aren’t willing to accept digital cash; they want hard cash. These people who use expensive smartphones don’t want to accept digital payments. Why? Leaving out the tax-evasion angle, the only other explanation is that they are unwilling to adapt to the change. Their unwillingness is causing pains to the general public.

Kudos to those small-business owners who have switched to digital payments and quickly adapted to the change. They show the real flexibility that a true entrepreneur has. As a matter of fact, they have started to reap the benefits of digital before those who are still in their comfort zones. How fast others adapt themselves to digital will determine their existence in business.

Similar argument goes for the consumer also. Consumers should also switch to digital as soon as possible. They should seek out help if they have any reservations regarding it; children should help their parents to adapt to digital. As the business and the consumer push each other toward digital, what looks like insurmountable will turn easy. 

The demonetization has ruffled us out of our comfort zones. It’s time to see the brighter side rather than go after the government and criticize it for the bold step it has taken. Mind you, the world is watching.