Demonetisation: It's payday, but cash still out of reach

Kolkata: On the first day of the month, when most people’s salaries were credited to their bank accounts, long queues were seen outside banks and in front of ATMs. With most ATMs across the city either running dry or “out of order”, salaried persons and pensioners were greatly inconvenienced. Even the banks failed to meet people’s demand for cash, as a large number of salaried persons wanted to withdraw cash after their salaries were credited to their bank accounts.

Despite a withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 a week for an individual, most of the people only managed get their hands on Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 due to the cash crunch. As a result, people took out their ire against the Central government after being not being allowed to withdraw their own hard-earned money, despite spending hours in queues.

“I have been standing in line for more than an hour, and I am yet to enter into the bank to withdraw cash. There is also no certainty how much I will be able to withdraw as the banks are running out of cash,” said a Central government employee.

The situation was same at Dalhousie, where serpentine queues were spotted outside every bank and ATM.

“It is frustrating to stand in lines for hours and then get Rs 2,000 notes from the banks. What will I do with Rs 2,000 currency notes? Who will give me the change? The banks should have been equipped with a lot of cash before the first day of the month,” said a private sector employee outside a SBI branch.

Private sector employees either bunked their office or took early leave to withdraw cash. The situation was worse for pensioners as they had to endure physical pain to stand in lines and withdraw cash from banks. “I had to wait for one hour to withdraw only Rs 6,000 from my account. The officials at the bank told me that they cannot provide me more cash as they have to satisfy the need of other pensioners,” said an elderly woman in Esplande.

Out of hundreds of ATMs across the city, only a few were dispensing Rs 100 notes. Moreover, many senior citizens stood in the queue on behalf of the working members of their family. People also complained that many ATMs were only dispensing Rs 2,000 notes.

Meanwhile, members of state government workers’ association staged a protest outside the RBI office in Kolkata after it failed to provide adequate cash to the banks. “Our salaries have been credited to our accounts today, but we cannot withdraw more than Rs 5,000 or Rs 6,000 due to cash crunch. The RBI should immediately provide more cash to the banks to help the salaried persons,” said an agitator.