Coin shortage makes everyday life difficult in West Bengal

Kolkata -  School teacher Nandita was surprised when a teenager manning the cash counter at a coffee shop in a private hospital offered her two bubble gums with a wide smile.

"Didi (sister), we have no one-rupee or two-rupee coins. So, would you mind the gums instead of Rs.2?" he asked Nandita, who had bought two cups of cold coffee.

Her experience was not something unique or an isolated incident.

People across West Bengal, particularly in Kolkata, face an acute shortage of coins of smaller denominations, making even the simplest tasks of buying groceries or commuting a complicated transaction.

Tapas Mukherjee of the Barabazar Traders Association said the "huge shortage" of coins was badly affecting the business of about 3.5 million small traders in the state.

"One rupee coins have suddenly vanished from the market. Have you seen any of those? Vegetable sellers are mainly facing the music," Mukherjee IANS.

He said hoarding of small denomination coins might be one reason for the crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), however, claims that the "demand-supply mismatch" is a problem of perception.

"It is not a rule," said a RBI official. "Much effort has been made in the last two months to strengthen (coin) distribution channels. Now we are taking steps to see that even this isolated phenomenon does not happen."

The official said the RBI had pumped in Re.1, Rs.2 and Rs.5 coins in Kolkata.

The central bank distributed 1.78 billion coins last fiscal. It has issued more than 800 million coins in the first four months of this fiscal (April to July).

It has organised about 150 coin melas in the state, where the public, small traders and shop owners exchanged currency for coins.

The RBI, which operates 13 coin vending machines at its Kolkata office, is distributing 500,000 coins daily.

It has also opened two distribution counters, especially for meeting the demands of transport organisations.

The country's largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI), echoed the RBI's view.

"There is no coin shortage," said SBI chief general manager (Bengal circle) Suriender Kumar. "We opened branches even on Sundays for providing coins."

West Bengal's transport operators, however, disagree.

"A solution to the problem of acute coin shortage is still far away," Bengal Bus Syndicate vice president Dipak Sarkar told IANS.

According to Sarkar, even now bus and mini bus operators have to tap the grey market to buy small denomination coins due to inadequate supply.

Adjacent to the RBI Kolkata office premises sit scores of men who buy coins and sell them on a premium although selling of coins is illegal. The coins can only be exchanged.

Sarkar said Re.1 coins were being sold at a premium.

He said it was the defective distribution policy of the RBI that led to coin shortage. "The RBI should enrol individual bus owners with a specific bank branch to issue coins."

The shortage of small coins is also being felt elsewhere in the country where low-priced candies have emerged as a medium of barter among buyers and traders.