TS Demands Rs. 5,000 Cr In Small Notes From Centre

Expressing shock over the diversion of thousands of crores worth Rs. 2,000 notes by a few banking officials recently, Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender today alleged that the accused were being influenced by big corporates and magnates.

Addressing a bankers' meeting attended by Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Home Minister Nayani Narsimha Reddy, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials and others on Tuesday, Rajender said the Telangana was facing an acute shortage of small denominations of currency due to fund diversion by banking officials, and suggested the RBI be given autonomy in taking punitive action against currency hoarders.

The Finance Minister demanded that the Centre punish corrupt officials with an iron fist. He also said out of Rs. 20,000 crores, Telangana so far received Rs. 17,500 crores, comprising 96% of high value notes of 2,000 denomination and only 4% small denominations. This compounded the problems of the people who were on a lookout for hard cash. To add to the turmoil, neither banks nor ATMs in the State were able to cater to the needs of the people who were lining up for hours in front of ATMs and banks, he deplored.

Also, Rajender demanded that the Reserve Bank pump at least Rs. 5,000 crores in small denominations to banks in Telangana so that it could overcome the dearth of cash.

Since Telangana was in favour of fully digitized transactions, it was imperative that the Centre and RBI cooperate to help the State tide over the current situation, he said.