Govt ignored cash alarm: Chamber
2 min readPatna: The Bihar chamber of commerce and industries on Thursday appealed to the Reserve Bank of India to immediately address the currency crunch in Bihar.
The Chamber, in a press release, requested RBI governor Urjit Patel and RBI regional director N.P. Topno to immediately solve the currency crunch before it blows out of proportion.
Chamber president P.K. Agrawal said: “I was sensing the cash crunch beforehand, so I wrote letters to Union finance minister Arun Jaitely, RBI governor Dr Urjit Patel and Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi that regular information is received from different parts of the state, like Bhagalpur, Magadh, Darbhanga and Patna, that people are returning empty-handed from ATMs and bank counters due to shortage of currency and they are being told that there is no cash currently and that as it comes it will be made available.
“It seems the Chamber’s suggestions were not taken seriously which resulted in the current crisis of cash, which has not only affected Bihar but other states also,” Agrawal added.
Some bankers are of the opinion that the current crisis erupted as customers are depositing less amount of cash in banks, he pointed out.
“Banks are deducting various charges in the name of providing services to the customers and also some charges are being levied when the customers are trying to withdraw money,” Agrawal said. “Therefore, banks are duty-bound to ensure that no customer returns empty-handed and disappointed.”
The State Bank of India (SBI), largest bank in Bihar with maximum outreach/branches and also the convener to State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), seems unable to discharge its responsibility in a proper way, Agrawal said. As a result, he said, trade and business organisation along with the people of Bihar are facing hardship in withdrawing their own money, “which is really very unfortunate”.
RBI Patna had on Wednesday said in a statement: “There is no shortage of currency notes as is being made out in section of press.”
Courtesy: The Telegraph
