BHOPAL: The Modi move to demonetise notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 may hit the massive ‘Garib Kalyan Agenda’ programme to be organised by state government on December 4 at Jamboree Maidan.
The government is facing the challenge of bringing around 5 lakh people from across the state for attending the programme. It would need around Rs 25 crore for making arrangements for transporting people. An equal amount would be spent on holding the programme.
The main problem which the government is facing is that a collector is supposed to follow the same rules, as far as withdrawal of money is concerned, as any other person. Hence, cash of not more than Rs. 50 thousand can be drawn out from government accounts in a week. The districts do not have funds for sending people to state capital.
The people are also engrossed in exchanging old notes and they may not show interest in going to Bhopal. The contractors who were assigned the work of making arrangements are also in a fix after demonetization. In this scenario, problems may arise in the conduct of such a big event. The programme is being organised to celebrate chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan completing 11 years in office. Sources said the impact of demonetisation on the conduct of the programme is being reviewed at government level. A decision may be taken after November 24. Not only the government but Bharatiya Janata Party is working actively in bringing people in this programme. BJP may face problems in bringing people following demonetization.
There is resentment among people towards central government over demonetisation. The party would decide about the programme after assessing the conditions. A senior BJP leader, on the condition of anonymity, told that decision on conduct of the programme would be taken after assessing the mood of public in the coming time.
RBI no to co-op loans repayment in old notes
The Reserve Bank of India, on Monday, told the state government that its decision to allow farmers and others to repay the loans taken by them from co-operative banks and co-operative credit societies in invalidated currency notes was wrong. The RBI said that the old notes cannot be accepted by any agency without the permission of the central government. The state government had announced the decision on Sunday. On Monday, around Rs 6 crore were collected in Hoshangabad district alone as repayment of loans.
