Most banks in Himachal remain cashless

Most of the banks across Himachal Pradesh remained without cash on the first salary day since demonetisation and long queues were seen throughout the day.

Bankers blamed the Reserve Bank of India for not supplying adequate currency notes to meet the demand. Even most of the ATMs remained cash dry, badly hitting the pensioners and the salaried class.

"We had demanded Rs 600 crore for dispensation of salary but we got only Rs 100 crore. In the next two-three days we are hoping to get adequate cash," a senior Punjab National Bank official, requesting anonymity, told IANS.

Likewise, UCO Bank had demanded Rs 450 crore but got only Rs 50 crore.

Reports said huge queues were seen outside banks in Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una, Solan, Rampur, Mandi, Dharamsala, Palampur, Chamba, Dalhousie, Kullu and Manali towns too.

There was no report of any clash owing to currency shortage in the state, a police official said.

A government official said various banks have a network of 1,955 branches and banking outreach was further expanded recently by engaging 1,347 business correspondents in remote areas. The state has over 900 ATMs.

However, an official said 642 ATMs in the state were yet to be calibrated.

--IANS

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