Bhawanipatna: Tribals in cut-off areas of Indravati reservoir in Kalahandi district have been put to untold suffering to exchange their scrapped notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations in banks and post offices, a report said.
They have to travel a long a distance to reach the nearest bank at the block headquarters of Thuamula Rampur and cough up over Rs 100 as boat fare to cross the reservoir.
While some have to travel around 40 km, others travel an extra 10 km to reach the block headquarters.
However, there is only one branch of State Bank of India at Thuamula Rampur and a small branch of Utkal Gramya Bank in Gunupur. The presence of only a single bank in the area has compounded the problems faced by the tribals.
It was learnt that middlemen are reportedly fleecing them by paying Rs 450 in exchange for an old Rs 500 note while some unscrupulous traders are charging Rs 1,000 for grocery and other items worth Rs 900.
The block has a population of 80,000 residing in 260 villages under 16 panchayats. Among them residents of Bhitar Dunga, Bhabadapadar, Kudkudi, Cheptaghat, Jhirigaon, Mendhakota, Gutukhal, Sandarikhadak, Kanasukuli, Tentulipada and Podapadar under four panchayts of Padepadar, Maligaon, Gopinathpur and Talanagi in the cut-off area are the worst sufferers. There is a rush among the tribals to exchange whatever scraped notes they have in their possession.
The problem has become more acute as hardly one or two buses ply on this route. The villagers after getting down from the boat have to walk a long distance to reach the bank as there is no communication facility in the area to ferry them to the bank.
Adding to the woes of the tribals, post offices are not exchanging scrapped notes
despite a Central government order in this regard. As a result, middlemen are cashing in on the situation and exploiting gullible tribals. Moreover, the bank not having enough cash for disbursal at times has worked in favour of these fraudsters, it was learnt. PNN
