• RBI yet to respond to request of Rs 300 Cr for Nagaland
• Number of functional ATMs in state increases
Morung Express News
Dimapur | November 13
The cash madness continued for the fourth day into the new financial paradigm created by the Government of India’s demonetization move, which kicked off on November 9.
Along with the rest of the country, people in Nagaland thronged ATMs and banks to either withdraw cash or deposit their old currencies.
As reported earlier, there is a dearth of Rs 100 notes in the state and the new Rs 2000 note has proved to be of not much help, as most retailers refuse to provide change for the new note.
A request letter for Rs 300 Crores of lower denomination for Nagaland state was sent to the RBI on November 11. However, there has been no response from the RBI till date.
Assistant General Manager, Regional Office, SBI, Thangboi Lunkim today informed The Morung Express that the RBI would be intimated again on the request made by the state. However, he stated that Monday being Guru Nanak Jayanti, is a national holiday, and banking establishments, including the RBI will be closed. Lunkim said that the RBI would be reminded of the earlier request on Tuesday. He expressed hope that the RBI would provide consent to the request, given that the amount is not more than the frequent supplies of cash provided by the RBI to the state.
Meanwhile, he informed that the number of ATMs now open for cash dispensation has now increased significantly. With the Finance Ministry revealing that it would take around 3 weeks for all ATMs to be recalibrated, Lunkim assured that the SBI staff in the state are working with ATM vendors to ensure that all the ATMs are functional at the earliest possible time.
He further stated that recalibration of ATMs is a complicated process, involving configuration of ATM cassettes, software reconfiguration, link issues, proper tallying and availability of enough engineers from the ATM vendors.
All stakeholders must unite
Lunkim meanwhile asked for all stakeholders, including all other private and public sector banks, to unite and contribute towards addressing the current situation. “SBI alone is not responsible for cash transactions; all stakeholders need to contribute,” he appealed. While all banks in the state have had customers rushing to them, the lines are by far the longest in SBI branches.
He further expressed gratitude to the customers in the state, for their cooperation and patience under the present circumstances and assured that SBI staff are working hard to meet the needs of the people.
