Hitesh Mahajan
JAMMU: Day two of the exchange of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denomination notes witnessed many ATMs either shut or without cash on Friday.
Chaos prevailed as most of the banks in Jammu remained cashless which added worries of the people whereas plenty of banks fulfilled the need of the people by exchanging the old currency by the new ones as they were fully prepared for it.
There was chaos as people not only crowded the banks’ premises but also parked their vehicles haphazardly, thus causing long traffic jams.
The Banks that had opened additional windows were struggling to deal with the heavy footfall of customers, while many had to close their gates multiple times seeing the full house situation.
The customers are being requested not to panic, as we are here to help them, a bank official said.
Mamta Sharma, a housewife said, “Yesterday, I was not able to withdraw cash due to a long queue. Today the situation is worse. The queues are getting longer and bank is too running cashless most of the time.”
Not surprisingly, many customers were disappointed as banks failed to restore ATM transactions on Friday as promised by the Government.
“I visited 20 ATMs of all banks in the last one hour but not a single machine was operational,” Rakesh, who runs a Karyana shop told STATE TIMES this morning. A survey of ATMs by this correspondent revealed the same. In the afternoon, several banks in Jammu city had run dry of cash.
People were allowed to deposit cash but exchange could not take place due to cash paucity. This was the scenario at UCO Bank Janipur Branch, shutters of which were half-downed in the afternoon.
At about 100 meters distance, another bank in Janipur, this correspondent went for currency exchange but the bank was cashless.
“We don’t know when we receive the next consignment of currency” said abank employee when asked for the reason for not exchanging the same.
“There is no cash in the bank. What we have heard from the authorities is that it will arrive only after noon,” he added.
Even though government has allowed Rs 10,000 per day withdrawal with an overall cap of Rs 20,000 a week, some banks have imposed their own limits.
Meanwhile, J&K Government has directed Deputy Commissioners of all the districts to provide security and support to banks to manage the rush of the people making a beeline to exchange and deposit Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
“The necessary instructions to all the Deputy Commissioners have been issued to provide requisite support including security to the banks to cope up the rush of the clientele wherever required,” Chief Secretary B R Sharma said here.
Sharma convened a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation arising in the state in the aftermath of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes by the Centre.
Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, B B Vyas, Principal Secretary Home, R K Goyal and Commissioner/Secretary Finance, Navin Kumar Choudhary were present in the meeting.