Demonetisation-Kerala govt passes resolution, asks Union govt to lift restriction on co-op banks

The move comes days after the entire cabinet protested outside the RBI office in Trivandrum demanding that cooperative banks be allowed to exchange and transact in new currency notes

The Kerala assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution urging the union government to lift restriction on cooperative banks for cash transaction over demonetisation. The resolution was passed in a special assembly session called to discuss demonetisation.

The move comes days after the entire cabinet led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan protested outside the RBI office in Trivandrum demanding that cooperative banks be allowed to exchange and transact with new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 currency notes.

The Kerala Chief Minister in his address to the assembly on Tuesday said that economy of rural Kerala was dependent on cooperative banks and the rural masses had taken a beating with cooperative banks not being allowed to exchange or accept old notes for new ones.

The BJP in Kerala, however, has been accusing the CPI(M) and Congress of using cooperative banks as safe havens to launder black money. Tuesday's move was anticipated since the Chief minister had made public his decision to take the protest in support of cooperative banks forward during a protest rally last week. On Monday the Chief Minister had said that an all-party delegation will meet the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to highlight the need to remove restriction on cooperative banks.

OneIndia News