Amid mad rush for cash following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, it's understandable that one, who gets access to bank after long wait and jostling, will be enraged if he is turn away by bankers, saying they have no cash for the day. But hurling abuses at them who are working overtime to beat note-ban blues will be unfair.
In the past few weeks since demonetisation, bankers are at receiving end of the people's fury. Their plight does end here. Under stress and pressure, bankers are bearing the brunt of miscalculations. After day-long hectic works, they are paying from their pocket for the mistake at the end of the day. Such incidents which usually happen once or twice in six months, have happening more frequently now post demonetisation.
A source told The Pioneer that cashiers of many banks were troubled due to this reason. Though they have breathed a sigh of relief after bank managers' assurance to return their money in due course of time once the situation gets better, their work pressure is unlikely to end anytime soon.
Sharing his plight, a banker said, "It is not easy to count all the notes in a hurry or under pressure. On top of that people want us to provide service as fast as they need to get going with their daily routine job. In such situations, giving out more cash has become a common phenomenon in banks. Only the chief cashier has a note counting machine," he added.
Cashier Basant Kumar Jha, was leaving for his home, when he said, "My job as a cashier has become more hectic than ever since the announcement of the demonetisation scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are huge queues in front of me every day and if I am late with dealing with any one of the customers then the others start protesting and ask me to expedite my work. This gets me nervous hence at times I have given out more money to one or two customers by mistake. I had to replenish the money from my own pocket. Now, managers have started assuring us that we will get our money back in due course of time. I am relaxed and more focused on my work."
Although when asked the name of the bank he worked in, Jha refused to answer the question, smiled and walked away.
In another instance, the cashier of the Central Bank's BSZ Marg branch gave more money to the people during the mad rush as he worked without a break. "The cashier had to pay from his pocket", said a bank official on the condition of anonymity.