BERHAMPUR: In front of Aska Central Co-operative Bank (ACCB)’s Sorada branch in Ganjam district, the long queue does only have footwears, not the farmers wearing them.
Due to inadequate cash supply at ACCB in Sorada, farmers are facing difficulties in withdrawing their payment towards sale of paddy. They have to stand in long lines from early hours, waiting for their turn to withdraw payments.
However, to save themselves from the scorching sun, the farmers have started placing their footwear in the queue outside the bank while they take shelter nearby since the past three days.
The ACCB in Soroda caters to over 16 co-operative societies in the block. Farmers in the area have already sold around 2.5 lakh quintal of paddy and payment has been credited to their accounts. However, they are facing issues to withdraw their funds immediately due to shortage of cash at the bank.
After receiving report about this, the district administration issued directions to solve the issue on a war footing.
The district administration is already geared up to achieve its paddy procurement target by the end of February. While the initial target for procurement was set at 44.48 lakh quintal, it was increased to 59.73 lakh quintal as the yield exceeded expectations.
This year, over 1.44 lakh farmers registered to sell their paddy and so far, 1.33 lakh farmers have already sold their paddy.
Ganjam collector Dibya Jyoti Parida said around `1,087 crore has already been disbursed to the accounts of the farmers.
While farmers with nationalised bank accounts have received their payments, those with cooperative bank accounts, who sold their paddy through cooperative societies, are facing long delays due to an insufficient cash supply at the bank.