Naveen seeks PM’s intervention on demonetization

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the non-applicability of withdrawal scheme of the high denominations in District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs).

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister drew the attention to the fact that since the DCCBs are licensed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and constitute a part of the Banking Industry, it was construed that the DCCBs are also authorized to implement the scheme.

Therefore, they were accepting such high denomination notes through their retail outlets from 10th to 14th November 2016, he added.

Notably, RBI has taken a decision that no exchange or deposit facility of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes will be allowed at DCCBs. However, it had clarified that the DCCBs can allow existing customers to withdraw up to 20,000 per week.

The Chief Minister pointed out that in Odisha around 65 percent of crop loans are dispensed by DCCBs through their Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and cater to the requirement of around 44 lakh agricultural families under Kisan Credit Card Scheme.

Withdrawal of this facility will adversely affect farmers, resulting in a setback of disbursement of crop loans and paddy procurement operations during current Rabi season, said Patnaik.

The whole situation is further complicated by the inadequate availability of new Rs 2000 and Rs 100 denomination notes, he added.