Reacting to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s grievance before the Centre that rural people are facing trouble in getting currency notes due to lack of banking facilities, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said the State Government is unnecessarily creating disputes while taking less responsibility to resolve the problem.
“Those who are in Government shoulder the responsibility of finding out ways for resolving problems. Bank branches are not an only mode for financial transactions. Odisha has common service centres (CSCs) run by the Centre at 6,500 places, where money withdrawal facilities are available. The State Government should emphasize on utilization of these facilities for people’s benefit and stop creating disputes,” Pradhan told reporters.
He informed that the State Bank of India (SBI) has branches, Banking Correspondent and ATMs at 20,000 places in Odisha. He too informed that petrol pumps having digital system of money collection are now collecting money from more than 50 per cent customers through cards and wallets.
Though the common people are facing problems in cash withdrawal, they still support the Prime Minister’s demonetisation decision, he said.