Day 9 of demonetisation: Many skip offices to stand in queues for cash

The chaotic situation and long queues outside banks and ATMs in Delhi and adjoining Noida and Gurugram continued on Thursday with people frantically attempting to withdraw cash for their basic needs after the government scrapped large currency notes last week.

On Thursday, many skipped their offices, for a second day in a row, as their previous attempts to withdraw cash proved futile despite standing in queues for hours.

Dozens of people that banks and ATMs ran dry of cash by the time their turn came on Wednesday.

Asim Malik, a private professional, standing in queue at the Bank of Baroda in New Friends Colony, said: "I had taken a day's leave yesterday (Tuesday) so I could withdraw cash from the bank. However, the bank ran out of cash. So I have taken one more leave today to try my luck again."

A college student, Sunny Agarwal, said she had been missing her lectures from the last two days. "The unavailability of cash has made our lives very difficult. I skipped my lectures as I have to stand in queue for several hours to get some cash for daily expenses."

Many of the banks in the region had not received indelible ink till Thursday morning to mark those who exchange spiked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes with new or lesser denominations.