VIJAYAWADA: After more than the month-long drive to switch over to cashless transactions, bureaucrats gave a rude shock to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at a review meeting with Secretaries and Heads of Departments (HODs) here on Thursday.
Sources said Mr. Naidu was surprised to hear that not even one-fourth of the officials have switched over to e-payments. The majority of them still swore by the physical currency.
In an impromptu enquiry, the Chief Minister asked how many officials switched over to cashless transactions through their mobile phones. As a very few of them raised their hands, Mr. Naidu said, “Not even 25 per cent of them got used to cashless transactions and not using mobile transactions. We have been saying use digital payments for last one month.”
The ePOS machines were installed at various locations such as RTC bus stands and even liquor shops. Surprisingly, the usage of ePOS machines was more at liquor shops. They (tipplers) want the liquor by evening. As cash is not available freely, they mastered the tricks of the trade. They were using the ePOS, a mode of digital transaction, to make their payments, he said.
Banks blamed for crisis
Referring to the fallout of demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes, Mr. Naidu minced no words in blaming the bankers for long queues in front of banks and ATMs and the currency crunch.
“The banks have no capacity building. They knew no crisis management. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and banks have failed to meet the expectations and tide over the crisis. While the common man gets Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 4,000 after standing for long hours in a queue, people like TTD member J. Sekhar Reddy walked away with wads of currency notes. It was a sentimental issue and definitely a heartburn for the common man. What the banks have to say about this,” he asked.
Pensions
The government did a mistake by depositing pensions in banks. The pensioners were facing hardships as they were unable to withdraw the pensions easily. The government has decided to revert to the old system of paying the pension at the doorstep from next month onwards. The government would pay Rs. 500 crore in the first week and another Rs. 500 crore in the second week, he said.
When the ministers pointed out there was a need to recruit more business correspondents, the Chief Minister said that at State Level Bankers Committee meeting, it was decided to recruit 3200 business correspondents. Another 5,000 business correspondents could be recruited if required, he said.
