ATM Cash Crunch on Ground, While World Bank Report Says India Recovered From Demonetisation! What does it Mean for Common Man?

New Delhi, April 17: There is a lot of buoyancy in the market, post World Bank predicted that Indian economy has recovered from the effects of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST). The World Bank has further forecasted a healthy growth rate of 7.3 percent for India this year and 7.5 percent for 2019 and 2020. The report further highlighted that India needs to create 8.1 million jobs a year to maintain its employment rate.

However, things look quite dismal at the ground level as people face inconvenience because ATMs across several states in the country have dried up. ATMs across states in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana are seeing serpentine lines in front of the ATMs due to cash crunch. Old memories of November 8, 2016 are back, when Narendra Modi government had announced demonetisation, by withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from the market and introducing Rs 2000 notes. At that point, every citizen had to go through huge inconvenience because of the sudden cash crunch in the market.

The impact of the currency deficit was faced across industries, as companies had to grapple with huge loss initially. However, the only one to get benefited during this time were the digital payment options like Paytm, FreeCharge and others.

Government assures more than adequate cash in the market: 

However, in this case the positive side is that, the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley has clarified that there is no reason to panic because the current currency situation has been reviewed and there is more than adequate cash in the market. The government has further resolved to look into the matter and get it sorted as quickly as possible. Reportedly, RBI has also stepped in and has directed banks with surplus cash to help other banks facing a shortage of funds.

SBI Chairman speaks about the condition of bank ATMs tackling with cash shortage: 

According to a report on ANI, Rajnish Sinha, SBI Chairman spoke about the situation of his bank ATMs, "One reason is that procurement season has come and the payment to farmers have gone up. In Maharashtra and Mumbai there is no cash crunch as far as SBI is concerned. In the next week, things will start coming back to normalcy."

He further added, "There is a department which monitors situations like this. This is not new. RBI has been given an indent to increase the flow of Rs 500 notes in the system. It is a temporary situation which is mainly due to geographical factors. There is one solution for it that a proper cash management system be maintained."

Political parties indulge in mudslinging: 

Political parties have started pointing fingers at each other.  While, Sitaram Yechury tweeted saying, 'ATMs were empty in November 2016. ATMs are empty now. And the only party flush with cash is the BJP: the people suffer'. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has alleged a conspiracy behind Rs. 2,000 notes vanishing from the market. He has been quoted as saying, "Where are these notes of Rs. 2,000 denomination going? Who is keeping them out of circulation? Who are the persons creating shortfall of cash? This is a conspiracy to create problems. The government will act tough on this." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has commented that cash crunch in ATMs remind her of the demonetization days. In a tweet, she asked, if there is a financial emergency in the country. Congress President, Rahul Gandhi feels that the recent cash crunch is a result of the government's weak banking system.

With the political parties taking potshots at each other and  the government also assuring that there is adequate cash in the market, as always it is the common man, who is at the receiving end. Looking at the current situation, it makes us wonder that has India seriously recovered from the effects of demonetisation?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 03:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).