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Children’s Bank of India notes available at Pune toy shops, but sale is poor
Pune: The Rs 1,000 denomination notes found in the possession of six men arrested for fake currency racket recently are hard to find in the local market. However,
Pune: The Rs 1,000 denomination notes found in the possession of six men arrested for fake currency racket recently are hard to find in the local market. However, notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 are available in shops and used by children as toy or for various projects.
Apart from Rs 1,000 denomination, 1.52 lakh notes of Rs 500 denomination and 2.17 lakh notes of Rs 2,000 denominations were found from the accused’s possession.
“The notes of Rs 1,000 denomination are unavailable in the market. The sale of notes of other denomination is not even 5 per cent of the total stock. Every bundle of 100 notes of any denomination costs around Rs 30-35. Now even board games have started using plastic chips or credit and debit cards,” said Sachin Kulkarni, owner of Toy station in Kunte chowk, Pune.
“Whenever required, multiple suppliers are available in Ravivar peth. Most of the toy shop owners take notes from them,” said Viral Shah, owner of Maahi toy shop in Camp, Pune.
“We rarely see customers asking for these notes for school projects or as a plaything. Notes of Rs 1,000 denomination are not in demand. The lockdown has even affected the supply,” said a vendor on Laxmi road.
In the local market, one set of 10 different denominations, including Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 notes can be bought for Rs 20. The notes mention the ‘Children’s Bank of India’ in Hindi and English.
One of the demarcations between Children’s Bank of India and legal tender bank notes are the electrotype watermark and Mahatma Gandhi image which can be seen on the blank white strip on each of the legal notes. The Reserve Bank of India emblem, which has a tiger in it, is replaced with the word ‘colours’ with each alphabet printed in a different colour for Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination notes. The text in the language panel on the backside of the Rs 500 note is also altered in the Children’s Bank of India notes and the Ashoka pillar in also missing.
