Hyderabad has faced cash scarcity for more than three days now with most ATMs sporting the “No Cash” board. This is a scary nightmare that has come back to haunt the city after demonetization in 2016.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted the issue would be solved as soon as possible. The tweet read, “Have reviewed the currency situation in the country. Overall there is more than adequate currency in circulation and also available with the Banks. The temporary shortage caused by ‘sudden and unusual increase’ in some areas is being tackled quickly.”
IT Minister of Telangana K. T. Rama Rao responded to Jaitley’s tweet saying, “Sir, with due respect the cash shortage in Banks & ATMs is neither sudden nor temporary. I’ve been hearing complaints for over 3 months repeatedly in Hyderabad.”
KTR further added, “Pls have RBI & Fin Min (Finance Ministry) team dig deeper & not brush away an issue that is eroding people’s confidence in banking system.”
According to an analysis conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, more cash has been withdrawn from ATMs than deposited. The states with these issues are Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
Minister of State for Finance S. P. Shukla explained there is a total currency of Rs. 1,25,000 crores in the Country. However, some states have lesser currency while others have more. Mr. Shukla said the Government formed state wise committees to transfer the currency from one State to the other. He further assured the cash crunch problem would be better in the next three days.
