Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take some steps to ease the difficulties faced by the farmers in Odisha due to the demonetisation of higher currency notes and the consequent cash deficit.
In a letter to Modi, Patnaik has urged that adequate currency may be made available to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) by the currency chest branches of the commercial banks and this should be monitored by the Reserve Bank of India, regional office. This will enable the DCCBs to provide crop loans to the farmer members and also to pay their paddy procurement proceeds as well as insurance claims, he said.
Patnaik also drew the attention of the PM to lift the restriction imposed on PACS to draw `24,000 per week so that these organisations can cater to the credit requirements of their farmer members. Besides, Patnaik stated that the procurement dues of the farmers being transferred from a Government account, irrespective of the amount, may be allowed to be credited to the farmer’s account without insisting on the time consuming process of KYC verification.