SHILLONG: Despite the cash crunch across the country in the wake of the demonetisation announcement last month, residents of the State can look forward to a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, as relief is expected shortly with more cash being pumped into the State.
An SBI official on Tuesday said, “The situation will be better before Christmas. Position is quite good now and it will only get better in the coming days. We are planning to release more money to the customers before Christmas to cater to the shopping needs of the people.”
However, the official said that the market is facing shortage of Rs 100 denomination notes. “We are waiting for Rs 10 denomination notes and coins to come to Shillong. Coins of Rs 10, Rs 2 and Re 1 denominations have been supplied so that there is no shortage of coins in the market.”
The official also asserted that the situation in Meghalaya was better than many other states of the country. He cited the case of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra where there is shortage of money as the population is very high. Meanwhile, another SBI official in charge of the rural sector voiced concern over shortage of Rs 100 denomination notes.
“We are getting Rs 500 notes but there is shortage of Rs 100 notes even though RBI is supplying the money from time to time to meet the increasing demand of smaller denomination. Even coins are being supplied to some branches in the rural areas,” the official said.
The official observed that the people have been patient enough despite the ongoing crisis.
It may be mentioned that the UDP has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ease the crisis to enable people of the State to meet their Christmas expenses.
