Central govt jumpstarts PR drive as new notes fail to reach interiors
Morung Express News
Dimapur | November 22
Long queues, overworked bankers and pent up public anger describes the situation all over India following the November 8 announcement by the Prime Minister invalidating the existing Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 currency denominations as legal tender.
In a bid to assess public reaction, the Union Government has fanned out officials to all the states and union territories; the officials meeting state government officials, bankers, business bodies and civil society. On November 22, a one-man team landed in Nagaland for a 2-day visit.
The official, Jan-e-Alam, former Nagaland state Home Commissioner and currently Joint Ssecretary at the Ministry of Minority Affairs, met with civil society representatives, the chamber of commerce, transporters and bank officials in Dimapur today.
“I am to collect information (from the ground) and submit a report by November 25,” said Alam of the purpose in an interaction with the media at the Circuit House. As outlined in the central government directive, Alam said that he will assess the operational status and impact of the demonetisation exercise in Nagaland state.
He added that he will assess the nature of problems faced by the public, including the availability of cash and “what is the demand and what kind of facilities the banks are providing to their customers, particularly to deposit, withdraw and exchange and the status of calibration of ATM.”
While several issues were raised at the meeting, he said that the unavailability of the new Rs. 500 denomination and the shortage of smaller denominations was the major grievance highlighted. On this he said: “We have to find out why the new Rs. 500 notes are not reaching here.”
Stating he visited a couple of banks, he said that the situation is better here compared to other states.
Alam declined to comment on the demonetisation policy matters stating it is beyond his purview. He added that a similar status review meeting will be held at Kohima on Wednesday after which a clearer picture of the situation in Nagaland can be had.
Asked on how the government will handle the interiors of Nagaland which are largely unbanked, he replied that suggestions are required to tackle the problems faced in such areas, for instance Mon district, which has only one banking facility. While no fixed travel itinerary has been chalked out other than the stopover in Dimapur and Kohima, Alam said that he will likely visit some interior places.
