Currency crunch continued to derail the functioning of treasuries across the State on Tuesday too.
Against the demand for ₹122 crore, the Reserve Bank of India could provide only ₹52 crore and as many as 42 treasuries did not get any cash.
The currency crunch has become acute at a time when the Finance Department is disbursing social welfare pensions through cooperative societies and bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The majority of the beneficiaries were unable to draw pension from their accounts.
The cash crunch has affected the transactions of cooperative societies too, the Finance Department said in a release here.
The Finance Department has issued directives to credit the pension revision arrears of service pensioners in their accounts. The arrears are being cleared in one instalment. A sum of ₹900 crore is required for clearing the pension arrears.
The government has issued an order on April 9 to merge the first instalment of the pay revision arrears of employees with interest in their provident fund accounts. No time limit has been set for withdrawing the arrears from their accounts. This alone will cost the government ₹1,400 crore.
Kodiyeri’s demand
CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has demanded that the Centre and the RBI initiate urgent steps to end the currency shortage in the State.
Mr.Balakrishnan said in a statement here that the Centre and the RBI had been lax in ensuring currency supply to banks and treasuries after demonetisation.
Ignoring the interests of rural and cooperative banks, the government and the RBI had been protecting the interests of new generation private banks. Even during the Vishu/ Easter season, the ATMS have gone dry.