Kerala: Rs 2 Lakh For Families Of Those Who Died In Queues After Demonetisation

On Wednesday, 17 May, the Kerala government announced that it would pay the families of those who lost their lives while waiting in the long queues following demonetisation Rs 2 lakh each. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

According to the state government figures, four people in Kerala have died waiting in queues to exchange their old, demonetised notes. The families of these four individuals will receive the money.

The move follows a similar ex-gratia scheme by the Uttar Pradesh government in December.

The long queues before ATMs or banks were caused by the 8 November 2016 note demonetisation, which contributed to the 100+ deaths around the country caused directly or indirectly by demonetisation.

The Kerala government has been a stringent critic of demonetisation, repeatedly highlighting the negative fallout on the common man and on state finances. On 18 November 2016, the Chief Minister himself led a mass protest in front of the Reserve Bank of India's state office against barring cooperative banks from exchanging invalid currency notes.

Read more:

1. Six Months After Demonetization, How Are Indians Faring?
2. How Farmers Bore The Hardest Brunt Of Demonetisation: A Timeline Of How They Survived The Cash Crunch