Pravasi Haryana Divas organizers totally unaware.
The journey of two Indian Americans to India turned nightmarish after the customs officials at the Indira Gandhi Airport inDelhi detained them for carrying more than Rs.100,000 worth demonetized notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.
The two men — Narendra Joshi and Jasbir Sani — landed in Delhi to India to attend the Pravasi Haryana Divas on January 9 but the customs department took them into custody after they were found carrying Rs. 56,000 in the demonetized Rs. 1,000 notes and another Rs. 53,000 in scrapped notes of Rs. 500.
Joshi later alleged that the customs had officials kept them waiting for three hours in order to complete the paperwork at the airport, resulting in them not getting the rooms booked at Haryana Bhavan in New Delhi.
Both Joshi and Sani hail from Kurukshetra and migrated to the US 15 years ago. Joshi, who lives in Washington, is the head of a firm called GMD Group whereas Sani is a Boston-hotel entrepreneur with a chain of hotels in the US.
“We did not know that old notes were not valid in India. There is no new currency with us. We had to request taxi drivers to accept payment in dollars,†Joshi was quoted by Hindustan Times. Joshi even had to pay some extra dollars to the cab driver as he had no Indian currency at hand.
“Customs authorities issued us a form and told that the currency would be released through a court. We have a return flight on January 16 and are not sure of pursuing the matter in the court. Officials at the help desk at the airport, to help those attending the event, also expressed helplessness,†Joshi said.
When they thought the ordeal was over, more was waiting at the Haryana Bhawan and the treatment of the hotel staff reportedly humiliated the Indian Americans. “When we entered the building, there was no one at the reception and attendants were sleeping. They told us that only one room was booked, but when we checked, it was already occupied by someone,†Joshi said.
The Indian Americans also said that the next morning they traveled to Gurgaon where they had done the booking for their rooms in a private hotel for the next day. The hotel staff asked for Rs 6,000 more for the additional day which was later waved off after the intervention of local residents.
The officials who organized the Pravasi Haryana Divas said they are totally unaware of such an incident and said more than 90 officials were appointed as relationship managers but no complaints were reported yet.