Several major and medium temples in Srikakulam district are coming to the rescue of banks which are struggling to meet the exchange needs of the customers. With the directive from Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Srikakulam administration has suggested that all the temples deposit the hundi collections in the banks where they have accounts.
Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple at Arasavilli gets around Rs. 15 lakh per month through hundi offerings. Other major temple Sri Kurmam also gets around Rs. 5 lakh. Around 100 temples such as Sri Mukha Lingam, Endla Mallikarjuna temple at Ravivalasa, Uma Rudra Koteswara Alayam, Shiva Balaji temple, Vinayaka Panchayatana Alayam in Srikakulam and others assured to deposit hundi collections as they receive smaller denomination such as Rs. 100, Rs. 50, Rs. 20, Rs. 10 and coins.
“We directed the Endowment Department to take necessary steps immediately to count the hundi collection and deposit the amount in banks. It certainly eases the stress on the bankers who could not give notes of smaller denominations,” P. Lakshmi Narasimham, Srikakulam Collector, told The Hindu . “We asked the government to provide Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 notes worth of Rs. 100 crore to Srikakulam district. We hope the RBI and departments concerned will respond positively,” he added.
POS machines
Meanwhile, officials took steps for keeping of Point of Sale (POS) machines which would be kept in places such as petrol outlets, rythu bazaars, RTC bus-stands and other places to provide cash to the people. They work like ATMs at the public places. User charges will not be collected till December 30 from customers who draw money from POS machines.
