NIZAMABAD: Withdrawal of currency notes from circulation has an impact on the current yasangi (rabi) activity with farmers finding it difficult to get money from banks to purchase inputs such as seed, pesticides and fertilizers and agriculture implements.
The ryots are spending hours together in queues either before the ATMs or in banks to get the money. A majority of farmers do not have debit cards of banks, and hence they are forced to stand in queues holding vouchers and tokens in hands at the banks resulting in unmanageable crowd, especially in rural bank branches.
Money in banks
“We are facing acute shortage of money to pay tractor charges for ploughing and leveling fields. We have no money to pay wages to coolies for transplanting paddy seedlings,” says Parvathaneni Papa Rao, a farmer at Dharmaram village in Dichpally mandal. The daily wage workers insist on payment of money on a daily basis, the farmer pointed out.
Farmers sold their kharif produce at the agriculture marketyards and the money was remitted to their accounts in different banks but they are unable to withdraw it for yasangi.
“I offered to pay in either old notes or cheques for buying fertilizer for my mango orchard, but the dealers refused to accept either and the banks too denied giving cash citing a limit on withdrawal amount. As a result I have deferred use of fertilizers this season,” deplores K. Srinivas Reddy, a progressive farmer. Sluggish trend, meanwhile, continues in the wholesale vegetable market [Gandhi Ganj], agriculture marketyard and also in all markets. Pushcart vendors, hawkers, people running roadside eateries, juice centers and smalltime businessmen complain that their business has drastically gone down in the last six weeks.
There is no hope of the markets looking up immediately as cash crunch is likely to persist for some more days, says a bank employee pleading anonymity.
