Hyderabad: Finance minister Etela Rajendar on Sunday accused the Reserve Bank of India of failing to supply adequate currency to Telangana state seven months after demonetisation, leading to severe currency shortage in all districts.
He said the RBI had only supplied Rs 53,000 crore currrency to the state so far, of which 95 per cent comprised Rs 2,000 denomination notes. People were facing a shortage of lower denomination notes, he said.
Farmers were the worst affected as they could not purchase seeds and fertilisers even when all districts have been witnessing good rains.
“I have never seen farmers queuing up before banks and ATMs for cash. There is no cash in ATMs. When they are going to banks, they are being given just Rs 2,000, Rs 4,000 or Rs 6,000, all in denominations of Rs 2,000. The crop loan sanctioned ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh are lying in bank accounts of farmers. They cannot withdraw the cash due to the currency shortage," Mr Rajendar said.
Speaking to the media at the Secretariat on Sunday to announce the launch of an employment schemes for Nayi Brahmins and Rajakas from July as part of encouraging caste-based professions to the revive rural economy, Mr Rajendar said: “In the recent SLBC meeting, I had sought Rs 1,700 cash by June 26 but it is yet to reach the banks. Another Rs 5,000 crore cash was sought by July first week.”
He termed the GST rates on several items as “impractical”, and said the TS government would demand reduction and exemption for some goods and services in the next round of the GST Council meeting on June 30. “Our repeated requests to exem-pt or reduce GST slabs on Mission Bhagi-ratha, irrigation projects, granite and beedi industries were not considered,” he said.
