In an inconvenient report, the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Bank Employees Federation, contradicting the claims made by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and Reserve Bank of India authorities, said that the cash crunch and hardships being faced by the people in the wake of demonetization would last till December 30, and the crisis is not likely to be resolved till another five months.
The disturbing revelation was made by the organization at a media conference held on Friday. The federation held the RBI solely responsible for pushing the general public, especially the poor and middle-class sections, into discomfort besides driving the already "harassed" and "over worked" bank employees into a state of depression.
Listing out the reasons for the present-day "crisis" being faced by the people following the Union government's demonetization of higher value notes, Bank Employees Federation General Secretary Rambabu went hammer and tongs at the RBI authorities for their "lackadaisical approach" in initiating the steps necessary to prevent the problem.
He said that though the four mints in the city were printing new currency notes round the clock, the number of bills required to mitigate the crisis cannot be printed entirely till the next five months.
Assuring the media that the Bank Employees Federation did not doubt the Centre's intentions behind demonetizing the big notes, Rambabu said that the execution of it was inefficient. The RBI should have taken measures in advance including printing adequate number of required currency and stockpiles of smaller denominations.
The unavailability of the new 500 rupee notes had resulted in patrons subjecting bank employees to unbearable pressure, he lamented.