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The nuisance of scribbling and doodling on banknotes

Many people are still unaware that it is a punishable offence

RlZANUZZAMAN LASKAR
It seems that the distasteful practice of scribbling or doodling on banknotes is being passed on in the country throughout generations, but not too many people are aware that this hideous exercise is a crime according to Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The scribbles on the notes
range from peoples' names or phone numbers to short literatures and even sketches or drawings. Many of these drawings are despicably offensive and some messages are in fact love proposals.
"As if the worn-out and dirty notes themselves were not enough!” said Nusrat Jahan, an undergraduate student, adding, "Some of the things written on the notes are really disgusting. The worst part of it is, even if you wanted to, you cannot just throw these away since these are money after all."
Israt Fahmeeda from Pallabi said, "Just the other day I got a 20-taka note with a cellphone number and a dirty massage scribbled on it. urging anyone to dial that number. I was so disgusted that I almost threw it away, but I luckily managed to use it up soon."
A banknote is an official document that guarantees to pay the bearer the amount of value written on it. Banknotes are property of Bangladesh Bank -- the central bank of the country and it is illegal to deface banknotes, said sources at BB. Defacing a note may potentially render it valueless and any bank is entitled to reject the defaced banknote --regardless of the situation, added the sources.
Many city dwellers are of the
opinion that defaced notes cause vision pollution. However common the practice of scribbling on notes is, most people this correspondent spoke with found the act quite obnoxious and unpleasant.
It appears that the banknotes are sometimes being used by unorganised people to write down names or phone numbers when they cannot find any piece of paper around to write on. Some people tend to find the notes useful for recording their 'literary works' or their inner thoughts while some consider the notes miniature canvasses and attempt to unleash their inner creativity through their 'artwork'on these.
Others doodle on banknotes simply for the heck of it — as a source of entertainment.
Having found a name and number written on a 50-taka note, this correspondent decided to make the call and get into the inner workings of a scribbler.
After some trivial chitchat, the perplexed voice on the other side told this correspondent that he had written down his contact number on the note as part of his experiment to see if he somehow gets the note back!
"The ones who write on banknotes are clearly literate people, but absence of civic sense in
general is to blame for this sort of behaviour," said Parimal Kumar, additional general manager of Pubali Bank Limited.
"It is disturbing to see how these same people treat dollars, pounds and yens like treasures. I wish our currency could get even half the respect from our own people," he added.
Be it a tiny word, or despoil-ment of the picture of Bangabandhu, the tiniest blotch of ink on a banknote can reduce it to a valueless pitece of paper.
Though the government says it is a crime to deface notes, surprisingly, there is no clear definition of defacement of banknotes. There are no specific laws to punish the offenders either.
"There is no existing law regarding this matter," admitted a BB official of currency management department.
However, the official added that any marks or numbers put down by bank officials to keep account or identification for official reasons would not be considered as defacement.
"In India you can not transact with even a single scratch on a note. No one will accept it. You will have to turn it in to a bank," said an official from Pubali Bank.
Although the central bank discourages commercial banks from accepting defaced notes, die banks have a more tolerant approach on the issue.
"In most cases, the bearer of the note merely got hold of it that way. Therefore, we go soft on this issue. However, defacing notes is still a crime," said Moinuddin Khadem, assistant vice president of Islami Bank Limited.
"To avoid hassle, people should be watchful about the condition of the banknotes they receive. They should simply reject notes that are torn or defaced," he advised.
According to sources, the BB has been trying different ways to make banknotes more long-lasting. They are also considering releasing coins of larger denominations to reduce pressure on banknotes.
Chowdhury Mohidul Haque, general manager of Department of Currency Management and Payment System at BB, said, "We are always on the lookout for ways to make things better. We tried different methods to make banknotes more distinctive and longer-lasting. We have even considered releasing coins for larger notes. However, people saving the coins in clay banks hamper their proper circulation."
"Growing awareness among the people could be the best solution to the problem," he added.
Deliberately damaging or punching holes in notes is also a crime. Nevertheless, most banks in the country use staple pins to bundle banknotes and the staple pins that get rusted over time also cause further damage to the notes.
The BB has asked commercial banks to use bundling machines instead of stapling machines to bundle banknotes, said the sources at BB.