Kerala government today asked the Centre to urgently provideRs 1,200 crore to the state treasury to disburse salary and pension as there is a "drastic reduction" in the state's revenue following demonetisation.
Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Issac said the state was struggling hard to manage the disbursement of salary and pension in the current month and an amount of Rs 1,200 crore was required on an urgent basis to deal with the situation.
The State Finance Secretary has sent a letter seeking Rs 1,200 crore to the Union Government, he told reporters here.
"The non-availability of currency has put the government in a crisis. There is drastic reduction in the state's revenue in the aftermath of demonetisation drive," Issac said, adding, government made the demand as there was shortage of currency in the state treasury to disburse pension and salary.
He said the state's unorganised labour sector was facing big financial crisis due to the demonetisation drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Organised sector is also heading towards in this direction," he said.
"Concerned over the situation prevailing in the country, Non-Resident Indian community is reluctant to send money to India," he said.
Flaying Modi's initiative to shift India to a cashless economy, Issac said countries, which introduced plastic money, had not undertaken demonetisation of existing currency to introduce the new system of financial transaction.
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