GURGAON: Two Pravasi Haryana Diwas delegates who had flown in from the US on Wednesday got a taste of demonetisation as soon as they landed in Delhi.The duo claimed the entire cash they were carrying, all in old currency notes, was seized by Customs officials at the IGI airport, leaving them with only smaller denominations with which they managed to reach Haryana Bhavan. There, another surprise awaited them: despite a confirmation from state minister OP Dhankar of their booking, the duo alleged there was no accommodation for them.Narendra Joshi had flown in from Washington DC and Jasbir Singh Saini from Boston. They reached around midnight on January 9. But the Customs officials, they claimed, seized Rs 75,000 they had in de-recognised notes. Joshi is an Indian passport holder and Saini, originally from Kurukshetra, has an American passport. Both said they tried to convince officials that old currency notes could still be exchanged at the Reserve Bank of India, but were told they could approach a court to claim the money.When TOI spoke to Customs officials later, they could not comment on the specific incident but said Indian passport holders and NRIs are allowed to carry up to Rs 25,000 in old notes. "Many such cases have been detected and a number of incidents are being reported every day," a senior Customs official said.In the absence of any shuttle service for the delegates, the two men took a taxi to Haryana Bhawan, only to find that no rooms were available. Saini said he, along with Joshi, then came to a luxury hotel in Gurgaon, but the staff there informed them booking for guests was from Janaury 10. "The hotel staff told us we will have to pay for the stay," said Saini, who runs a chain of restaurants in the US."We had been informed that a help desk had been set up at the airport to assist guests. But there was no help desk. I had called up minister Dhankar to ask about accommodation and was informed two rooms had been booked in our names in Haryana Bhawan in Delhi," said Joshi, who owns a furniture and property business in America.When contacted, a senior government official told TOI arrangements were made for all guests, but some NRIs arrived a day in advance due to which they had to face inconvenience. "The authorities are looking into the matter and will take appropriate action," he added.

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