Odisha forms 'Monitoring Group' to track demonetisation crisis

With the people, mostly in rural areas, facing difficulties following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the Odisha government today set up a state level 'Monitoring Group' to track the situation.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked banks to open mobile banks or temporary counters in panchayats having no banks and said he would take up the matter with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The decision to constitute the state level Monitoring Group was taken at a level meeting chaired by Patnaik and attended by officers of RBI, State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) and senior government officials.
The Group will be headed by principal secretary, finance and representatives of RBI, SBI, SLBC convenor, principal secretary of social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities and commissioner-cum-secretary of panchayati raj department will be the members.

"The Group will track the development closely and brief the government on day to day basis," Patnaik said while asking banks to ensure that people do not face any harassment or delay when they come for deposit or exchange of notes.
Stating that 4,400 of the total gram panchayats in the state have no bank branches, Patnaik suggested bank officers to explore if mobile banks or temporary counters could be opened in those GPs and said the state government would provide the necessary support.

"I would be taking up this issue with the Union Finance Minister shortly," he said.
Of the 51,313 villages in the state, only 2,700 have bank branches. So people of remote villages have to travel to the bank branches as far as 15-20 km away to exchange or deposit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, officials said.

Official data shows that a total 4,889 bank branches were operating across the state by end of March this year. Out of them, 3,041 were of nationalized banks, 514 were of private banks, 991 were of rural banks and 343 branches were of cooperative banks.
Similarly, a total 6,028 ATMs were operating in the state, out of which the number was 1,784 in rural areas. There is no bank branch or ATM operated in tribal dominated regions.
According to reports from various places, brokers have started exploiting people taking advantage of the crisis.
Patnaik said the social sector beneficiaries like old-age pension holders, students scholarship holders, inmates of schools run by the government as well as MGNREGA workers needed timely payments.

"This should be closely monitored and appropriate remedial measures be taken in a proactive manner by the banks," he said.