RBI Governor Urjit Patel heckled by Cong workers at Kolkata Airport

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, who was in Kolkata, was heckled by a group of Congress workers at the airport on Thursday.

As he was stepping into the airport, the agitated workers started waving black flags and chanted slogans against him, expressing their ire over demonetisation.

Prior to his arrival in the city, the state's ruling Trinamool Congress party on Wednesday led a march to the central bank's Kolkata office to protest demonetization.

Patel met senior officials of RBI to take stock of the situation prevailing in eastern and north-eastern states since demonetization.

Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister met Patel and conveyed to plight of the masses and the inconvenience being faced by people post the controversial implementation of demonetisation.

"From Maharashtra to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh to Bihar, Chennai to Kolkata I gave my views on behalf of the commoners. But after meeting him, I felt immensely satisfied as I got an opportunity to express my views before him," she told the media.

"I informed everything what is going on throughout the country. The hardship of the people from the agriculture sector, the small shopkeepers, traders even the tea garden workers etc. More than 5 crores people are become jobless now, people are starving for death and they are dying. No plan was there before demonetization, ATMs are not working properly," she added.

Calling the move a big massacre, she said, "Our workers in all sectors have returned back to their respective land because of the demonetisation. Many people who used to work here from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh have also returned to their states. We have asked all the states to find a solution to it."

Banerjee has been criticising RBI on the way demonetisation of high-value currency notes has being implemented. She also criticised Patel's 'silence' on the issue.

"RBI is an institute and we respect it. We want the RBI to maintain the situation and the politics going on as it is their responsibility. The decision was taken by the Prime Minister, but the RBI should face the people but they are not even saying anything on this," she added.

She also urged the Centre and the RBI to "extend a helping hand to tea garden workers", who she alleged were 'dying' in the aftermath of demonetisation.

The Trinamool Congress supremo had on Wednesday demanded that the RBI restore and continue payments by the state government till March 2017.

TMC legislators and senior state ministers organised a sit-in in front of the Reserve Bank of India office in Kolkata yesterday to protest against the insufficient supply of new currency notes in the state.

Banerjee also accused the central government of discriminating between states with regard to disbursement of cash from the RBI.