Demonetisation of old currency notes has brought in its wake many hardships for all the age groups and strata of society. However, the worst affected are the elderly, small entrepreneurs and pregnant women who find it difficult to stand in long queues and have no clue about digital media of cashless transactions.

Arjita Gupta, a 25-year old resident of Kharghar, Navi Mumbai has taken upon herself the task of bridging this gap by assisting people to switch to digital-medium for money transactions, rather than depending on hard-cash alone.

“I am an avid social-media follower. After reading regularly about peoples’ plight due to demonetization, I was moved to try ease their problems and reach out to elderly (especially), small businesspersons etc. in my own capacity. It started with interaction in my immediate neighborhood and introducing them to online shopping for medicines, basic necessities, even luxuries,” says Arjita, who herself is a digital media professional.

“I think everyone is eager to understand how digital money system works, just that not everyone has used this system. If you explain to them how easy it is to make online transactions without the need to stand in long queues, they immediately welcome the idea,” she adds.

In the beginning, there were apprehensions with not everyone taking her initiatives seriously. However, gradually people understood. “I tried imparting correct information and updates about demonetization to them and even arranged transport for few to the bank. Some small businesspersons did not even have a bank-account, and I urged them to open one with a government bank to start with. Gradually, they began trusting me, and even spread the word that if any help is needed for banking online or manually, they could contact me on this,” says Arjita with a smile.

So far, Arjita has helped around 20 people in her neighbourhood and more are being helped everyday. “Help here also means making sure that if someone does not have tender notes for urgent expenses, I assist them with it,” she adds.

Although there is no age group for whom Arjita is trying to be helpful, yet elderly come first in the priority list. “Other than them, assistance is also given to all those who are sick and are unable to stand in the queues, or those who are unable to go to banks or ATMs so frequently,” points out Arjita, who wants other youngsters too to join her in this initiative.

“I have invited people and run an ad campaign on Facebook requesting volunteers to join me or undertake similar initiative in their neighborhood. We all are encountering difficulties due to demonetization, but we should try to minimize the problems. This is what my aim is. I am creating an information pool about all updates and news about demonetization and spreading the same to those around me,” she says.

Firmly believing in the saying “A small step makes a big difference”, Arjita continues to tread the path with strong conviction.