K’handi farmers unable to encash paddy procurement cheques

The Pioneer, Dec 13, 2009
Bikash Khemka | Bhawanipatna

Although every step was taken by the district administration for last couple of days for lifting the produce in Kharif season 2009-10 the farmers are now facing a new problem of cash withdrawal in few banks of the district.

After immense pressure from the administration the reluctant millers are reportedly now lifting the procurement in 71 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) out of total 74.

According to the reports, few banks in Kalahandi district are facing liquidity crunch as cash is not being available in a few branches. After lifting the paddy the farmers are receiving cheques from the PACS. Afterwards they deposit the cheque in nearest branches of SBI or cooperative bank but the banks are unable to disburse cash to the farmers.

Reports said the SBI branch of Dharmagarh, Kalampur, Jaipatna, Junagarh and Sinapali has insufficient liquidity for which farmers are waiting a long time for their cash withdrawal where as updated passbook shows that the cheque paid by the PACS has already been credited into their (farmers) bank accounts.

The guideline says that the funds towards cost of FAQ paddy will be placed by the (OSCSC) Orissa State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited to the PACS through the Orissa State Cooperative Bank. Then OSCB will provide the funds to PACS through District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB).

As farmers were experiencing (suffering) to get hard cash from few banks the assistant secretary of Bhawanipatna Central Cooperative Bank (BCCB) RC Mohapatra informed The Pioneer that he had appraised the matter to RBI assistant general manager at Bhubaneswar on November 30 for immediate disbursement of huge cash.

Mohapatra further said that “in our district few banks seems to be reluctant to send requisition slips for further cash deposits in their bank which leads to liquidity crunch. However, on Friday we have sent hard cash of around Rs 4.20 crore to different banks from our current account of SBI,” said Mohapatra.