JEYPORE/JAGATSINGHPUR: Running out of money for the last three days after the demonitisation of high value currency notes, men and women thronged the ATMs from early morning to withdraw money but to their disappointment, they found the machines non-functional at several places.
In Koraput district, discontentment was brewing among the people as ATMs were found closed for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday. Adding to their miseries, some post offices in the district have not started the money transaction process. According to sources, barring main branches of leading banks in Jeypore, Koraput, Damanjodi, Semiliguda and Sunabeda, several banks and post offices were found sluggish in disbursing their services.
While some people were lucky and could withdraw or exchange money for daily use, some other customers had to return disappointed as a few banks had limited counters.
As many as 50 ATMs of different banks are yet to be open for public transactions. Sources said, RBI is yet to provide sufficient new currency to the district. The money is generally transacted through SBI to other banks. Meanwhile, the bank officials clarified that they have been providing services as per cash availability.
The shortage of cash in hand and closure of ATMs have hit farm activities and retail trade as well. With kharif paddy harvesting in progress, the farmers are finding it hard to pay their workers engaged in crop cutting.
In the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur, public patience seemed to be growing thin. A 62-year-old man of Jankoti village under Jagatsinghpur police limits died on Friday after withdrawing cash from a bank.
The man, Satyabadi Kandi, was a daily wager and was standing in queue in front of Odisha Gramya Bank from 9 am to 1 pm for cash transaction. After withdrawing money, he was walking back home when he fell unconscious on the canal embankment of Sagadhua. Locals shifted him to a nearby hospital where doctor declared him brought dead. Police investigation is on. Sources said, he had to go without food for a day as he could not purchase rations due to problems in money exchange.
With nearly 95 pc ATMs non-functional, long queues were seen outside several banks in Jagatsinghpur, Paradip and other rural areas on Friday to withdraw money for medical emergency. One Suprava Dei, said her husband had deposited `20,000 in her bank account towards treatment expenses of her father-in-law but she failed to withdraw it because of non-functioning of ATMs. “I managed to exchange a `1,000 note with a local moneyed man who returned me `800 in exchange,” she said.