BHUBANESWAR: As the current cash crunch in rural areas is more acute due to poor banking coverage, the state government today requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to authorise cooperative banks to exchange old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 and take deposits of these note from customers.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today drew the attention of the Prime Minister to the November 14 RBI notification withdrawing the exchange facility of DCCBs of the demonitised Rs 500 and Rs 1000 current notes.
"Since the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) are licensed by RBI and constitute a part of the banking industry, it was construed that the DCCBs are also authorised to implement the Scheme,” the Chief Minister said in a letter to Modi.
The Chief Minister said that the DCCBs were accepting the demonetised notes from November 10 to 14 after November 8 notification of the RBI clarified that banks defined under the Banking Regulation Act are eligible to exchange the two big currency notes after withdrawal of their legal tender characters by the Centre.
"The DCCBs have been playing a pivotal role in the state by dispensing crop loans to the extent of 65 percent through their affiliated Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) and cater to around 44 lakh agricultural families under Kisan Credit Card scheme," Patnaik said.
Withdrawal of exchange facility from DCCB will adversely affect the farmers in the peak of agricultural operations. This will also affect disbursement of crop loans during the ensuing Rabi season leading to resource crunch of farmers and paddy procurement as well.
Patnaik further said that non availability of adequate currency of new Rs 2000 and Rs 100 denomination has resulted in dislocation in payment of wages to agricultural labourers.
He also spoke to the Prime Minister over phone and drew his attention to the farmer plights following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
He request the Prime Minister to personally intervene in the matter and direct the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to review its decision on withdrawal of facilities from the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) and allow them to take part in the implementation of the scheme.