BENGALURU: The issue of demonetisation raised its head again during the last media briefing of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), here on Monday.
A media delegate from Canada detailed the inconvenience caused to the participants as they reached the airport.
"Apart from the lack of any facility to exchange old currency denominations at the airport, the Government also did not exchange the foreign currency we had. The maximum exchange limit was 100 dollars, equivalent to Rs 5,000-6,000, which was not enough," he said.
To make matters worse, there was no cash in any ATMs. If there was cash too, it was in Rs 2,000 denominations making shopping difficult, he said and questioned whether the organisers had not anticipated the crisis.
In response, Dnyaneshwar Mulay, secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, said that ATMs were setup near Bangalore International Exhibition Center where the programme is being held. "However, the issue is not related to PBD," he said.
V K Singh, minister of state for external affairs said that a discussion will be held with the Ministry of Finance to prevent such incidents in the future.