The cash crunch triggered by the demonetisation of high value currency notes has further compounded the woes of people inhabiting the tribal sub-plan mandal of Gundala, which is already suffering due to numerous infrastructure deficiencies including lack of fuel station, proper road network and banking services.
People living in the Agency mandal including the mandal headquarters town are reeling under the cascading impact of the shortage of cash due to the pressing need for cash particularly ahead of the crucial rabi season and limited access to banking services.
The banking needs of the mandal headquarters town having a population of around 17,000 are being met by a single cooperative bank, which reportedly ceased to dispense cash since Friday for want of replenishment, sources said.
Villagers of Gundala and its neighbouring villages are compelled to travel a distance of over 25 km to try out their luck to exchange their old currency notes at the public sector bank at Kachanapalli.
Vehicle users especially the tribal farmers, who eke out a living by selling vegetables and milk elsewhere in the division, are hit hard by the shortage of currency coupled with the absence of petrol bunk in Gundala. We are finding it difficult to get even a bare minimum amount to meet our daily expenses, laments Venkanna, a farm labourer of Gundala. Our plight has turned from bad to worse as farmers are showing reluctance to hire our services in harvesting the cotton, paddy and other standing crops due to the cash crunch, he deplores. The local cooperative bank has stopped dispensing cash due to shortage , says Shantaiah, Sarpanch, Gundala major gram panchayat. Our long pending demand for setting up a branch of any public sector bank in Gundala has remained unresolved till date, he laments.
It is high time the government extended public sector banking facilities to Gundala for serving the needs of Adivasis of the far-flung tribal sub-plan mandal, he demands. The Girijan Cooperative Corporation's long pending proposal to establish a fuel station in Gundala is yet to become a reality, rues Ramulu, a farmer of Gundala. The approval of the departments concerned is awaited to set up a fuel station in Gundala, says Ramanandam, District Manager, GCC.
