Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 14:

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting difficulties faced by farmers in the state following demonetization of specified high-value currency notes.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

The Chief Minister has pointed out in the letter that restriction on district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) to accept specified bank notes as deposits and for exchange of such notes the DCCBs are facing liquidity crunch.

Besides, the currency chest branches of commercial banks are not able to provide currency to the DCCBs to cope with the demands of the farmer families at the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) for their Rabi operations, Patnaik wrote in the letter.

Patnaik said PACS being treated at par with individuals in respect of drawal of funds from their accounts with the DCCBs, they are able to draw only Rs 24,000 per week to meet the credit requirement of their farmer members. This has resulted in them being unable to cater to the demand for crop loans, procurement proceeds and insurance claims pertaining to Kharif -2015.

The Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter and take necessary steps for its redressal.