Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday castigated the Central Government’s decision to limit the powers of cooperative banks with respect to the old currency notes as “yet another assault on India’s poor and farmers, who are finding it difficult to survive in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s irrational and unplanned demonetisation move”.
He extended his party’s support to farmers protesting against the central government’s move under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and All India Kisan Coordination Committee.
Describing as completely illogical and irrational the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) orders prohibiting cooperative banks from exchanging or accepting old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, Capt Amarinder said that the ban appeared to defy any logic or sane reason, as in the case of several other senseless decisions taken by the Modi government in recent months.
The ban will completely break the back of the rural community in Punjab, already reeling under a massive cash crunch, particularly at a time when the sowing season is on, said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) leader.
He asked, “How will the farmers buy seeds, fertilizers etc when they cannot exchange or deposit the Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes lying with them.”
Punjab has 12,673 villages and farmers in these villages deposit their earnings from agriculture mainly in these cooperative banks, said Capt Amarinder, adding that the concessions announced by the government for farmers on Thursday would not go far in resolving the crisis caused by the restrictions on cooperative banks.
“Does Modi expect these poor farmers, many of whom are suffering the burden of heavy debts, take more loans to tide them through these times. In any case, who will give them loanIJ The regular banks that are themselves barely able to cope with the after-effects of the demonetisationIJ” asked Capt Amarinder.