Amid the prevailing cash crunch due to demonetisation of high-value currency notes of `500 and `1,000, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and requested him to open mobile banks and temporary counters in rural areas to facilitate money transactions in unbanked gram panchayats.
Patnaik also reiterated his appeal to the PM to ensure that District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) are allowed to exchange demonetised notes.
He also urged Modi to issue directives to the scheduled commercial banks to open brick-and-mortar bank branches in all 4,401 unbanked GPs in the State by March 2019.
He said the Centre should also ensure availability of cash in `100 and `500 currency notes for at least 12 to 14 days in bank branches of the State. He too requested that the women Self-Help Groups be allowed to operate their bank accounts without any restrictions.
This apart, the Chief Minister also raised Odisha’s dispute with Chhattisgarh over Mahanadi river water at the meeting.
“I urged the Prime Minister to issue directions to the Chhattisgarh Government to stop further constructions on the Mahanadi and its tributaries and act expeditiously to protect the interests of Odisha,” Patnaik told reporters after his meeting with the Prime Minister at the Sansad Bhavan.