Arunachal: Cash shortage at SBI affects villagers

Itanagar, Apr 05: The people of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh have been suffering following shortage of cash remittance in the State Bank India (SBI) at the fag end of this fiscal. Official sources said here today that many people were seen standing in queues for hours together for their payments.

Despite having cash in their accounts, many of them were turned down as the bank was not in a position to provide the the remittance. The officials alleged that the problem arose following non-cooperation from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials. Expressing concern, Changlang Deputy Commissioner Hage Batt directed the authorities to do the needful at the earliest. The SBI Changlang Branch Manager informed that the bank had placed an indent for cash remittance in January to the RBI and they had in turn assured to drop it by March 20 by an Indian Air Force chopper. However, the RBI officials postponed it several times citing bad weather.

''We somehow managed vehicles, labourers and police escort on assurance from the RBI to send the cash by road, but again they postponed at the last moment,'' the manager disclosed, adding the bank was somehow trying to take care of the situation despite the cash shortage and giving priority to salaried people, but the bank was not in a position to pay out big amounts and government payments.

UNI