A week after Rs500 and 1,000 notes were scrapped, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Hiraba Modi yesterday exchanged demonetised currency for Rs4,500 at a bank near the state capital Gandhinagar.
Wearing a white cotton sari over a dark blue blouse, 96-year-old Hiraba queued up at the Raisan branch of Oriental Bank of Commerce and got notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 exchanged for Rs4,500, the daily exchange limit.
A few people queuing up at the bank made way for her and she went straight to the teller counter.
She was given a new Rs2,000 note, five bills of Rs100 and two bundles of Rs10 each containing 100 notes each. Hiraba waved the Rs2,000 note to journalists waiting outside the bank.
Hiraba lives with her younger son Pankaj Modi. The prime minister last visited her on his birthday on September 17.
On Monday, Modi told a large gathering in Uttar Pradesh that he was aware of the difficulties faced by people, but they must be patient for 50 more days, for the larger good. “I am really pained by the inconvenience and that is why I am working tirelessly to help people overcome this situation,” he appealed.
Millions across the country have been forced to spend hours trying to exchange or withdraw cash at banks and ATMs since the prime minister suddenly pulled out the two biggest currency notes from circulation last Tuesday. Modi said the tough step was necessary to bring out black or undeclared wealth stashed by the corrupt.