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Demonitisation Fallout: Babies Die As Ambulance, Doctors Refuse To Accept Old Currency Notes

The horror stories just keep coming.
People rush to ATM machines to collect money after the declaration that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes will be demonetised.
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People rush to ATM machines to collect money after the declaration that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes will be demonetised.

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an emotional speech in Goa, across India people continued to reel under the troubles caused by the sudden move to de-legalize Rs 500 and Rs 1000 bank notes.

With long queues in front of banks, and ATMs running dry, hundreds of people in the country have still not managed to exchange their old notes or withdraw money. The demonetisation process seems to have become a nightmare for some as several deaths were reported on Sunday.

New Born Dies in Hospital Owned By Mahesh Sharma

An infant reportedly died in Noida's Kailash Hospital, reportedly owned by Union Health Minister Mahesh Sharma, after the hospital asked for an advance of Rs 10,000, but refused to accept old currency notes.

Catchnews reports that the child's father made the allegations while the minister denied them.

When HuffPost India reached out to the hospital, they dismissed the report as rumours started by "anti-social elements"

Senior Manager VB Joshi said, "These are made up stories. When the patient came they did not give any money."

When asked if the hospital was accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes they said, "What is the government rule? Do you follow the Constitution? We are doing what the government has asked."

He also said, "We have a Punjab National Bank van that came and helped patients with their cash. We are a hospital for the masses not the classes."

New Born Dies in Pali

A newborn died in Rajasthan's Pali district after the father failed to get an ambulance for the child after running around for four hours. The ambulances had refused to accept the now defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The baby, who was born on Thursday, was asked by the doctors to be taken to Jodhpur after he developed breathing problems. But Jodhpur is 80 kms away form Pali.

The Indian Express quoted the baby's father, Champalal Meghwal, as saying, "I found ambulances but they asked for Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000, all in Rs 100 and Rs 50 denominations. All my six-seven family members were at the hospital and we had some money, but most of it was in the useless Rs 1,000 or Rs 500 currency notes. I pleaded with the ambulance staff and tried negotiating with them, but they refused to accept the currency I had."

Infant Dies In Agra

A one-year-old baby Kush, a resident of Mainpuri, died after doctors refused to treat him because his parents did not have pay for his treatment because of the demonitisation.

The Times of India quoted Kush's father Raju as saying, "Doctors were treating him till I had the money in Rs 100 notes but once I ran out out of them and had only a note of Rs 500 left with me, they advised me to take him to a government hospital where my currency would be accepted."

Raju had no choice to but to take Kush away after which the baby died.

96-Year-Old Dies in Ududpi

A 96-year-old man in Udupi died on Saturday after a spike in his blood pressure when he was waiting in queue at a bank to exchange Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Gopala Shetty collapsed and was taken to the Primary Health Centre, after which he was moved to a private hospital where he was declared dead.

His son Sudhakar Shetty told The Times of India, "My father was a senior citizen, and the officials at the bank never made him wait at the counters. They used to hand over the cash to him immediately after the formalities were completed."

Cashier Dies in Bhopal

A 45-year-old senior cashier with the Ratibad branch of State Bank of India died on Sunday after he had chest, the police said.

Purshottam Vyas experienced chest pain and uneasiness little after 5 pm, following which he was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, PTI reported.

According to the police, he probably died while on way to hospital.

"We have registered a case and started investigation," police officer C Mewade said while confirming the incident.

Two People Die While Waiting in Queue

Two elderly men standing in seemingly unending queues at banks suffered heart attacks and died.

PTI reported that 69-year-old Vinay Kumar Pandey died in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar town after suffering a heart attack while standing in a queue to exchange demonetised currency notes outside a bank here, police said today.

"We got the information that an old man suffered a heart attack while he was standing in queue outside a bank to exchange his demonetised notes. He was rushed to a private hospital where he died later during treatment," Police Inspector VS Chauhan said.

Another such death was reported from Limdi town of Surendranagar district in Gujarat where a 69-year-old man died after heart attack.

Mansukh Darji was standing in a queue outside a Bank of India branch in Limbdi when he suddenly collapsed.

"Though he was rushed to the civil hospital by others in the queue, he died shortly thereafter during treatment. We learnt that he suffered a heart attack. His family members informed the doctors that he was a heart patient," said the Police Station Officer (PSO) of Limbdi, Navghanbhai.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.