An after-effect of the demonetisation in rural Odisha came to the fore on Saturday when some villagers in Kalahandi district kept their sarpanch locked for hours demanding for a barter system of exchange of paddy, moong and other cereals for kerosene.
According to information, people of Kashibahal village under Dharmagarh block went to Sarpanch Balabhadra Patel and urged him to take paddy and moong and give them kerosene in return as they don’t get currency notes now. As Patel expressed his inability, villagers, which include a good number of women, locked him in the panchayat office room for hours. But they released him later.
The incident is not the first one to happen in the State. It has been alleged that people have started giving paddy and other crops to moneylenders towards payment of borrowing at low prices.
“While over 4,000 gram panchayats in Odisha have no banking facilities, people are facing a lot of problem in getting cash. The Government should understand the ground reality and supply adequate amount of cash through mobile banking system,” said a social activist.