Pawar says Centre not providing' notes to co-ops, to move SC

Noting that Rs 8,600 crore worth of scrapped notes have been deposited by people in cooperative banks in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said he would move the Supreme Court again as the Centre "was not providing" new notes to these banks in exchange of junked ones.
"As many as Rs 8,600 crore-worth of scrapped notes have been deposited in various cooperative banks in the state. There have been some directives issued by the court, but yet to be implemented by the Centre. Hence, we will approach the Supreme Court again on Monday. We have appointed former Union Finance and Home Minister P Chidambaram to represent our case in the SC," Pawar said during a function in Kolhapur.

The RBI had allowed the cooperative banks to accept deposits in old notes for a few days following the demonetisation. However, these banks could only accept the old notes from consumers, but were not authorised to issue fresh notes in exchange of the demonetised ones.
"Agriculture sector in the country has been the most affected due to demonetisation. Millions of people lost their jobs, while many farmers had to throw away their produce because of their crashed prices. Many farmers are yet to recover from the shock," Pawar said.
On the Padma Vibhushan award being conferred on him, the former Union Minister said he was the third sibling in his family who has got the Padma award.

"The main reason behind it is our mother and the way she brought us up. She was from Kolhapur," he said.
Pawar's elder brother late Appasaheb Pawar had received the Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of agriculture. His younger brother Prataprao Pawar, an industrialist and owner of a media house, was also honoured with the Padma Shri a few years ago.
Pawar has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award, this year.