Chitrada: ‘No cash’. These are the words that have been greeting customers at a SBI Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of Morada block in Mayurbhanj district for over two months now. The ATM has been non-functional since March 25.
People here are reluctant to visit to banks now due to the coronavirus outbreak. Hence they depend on ATMs. With the SBI ATM which is the only one Morada block, out of operation people here are facing difficulties.
The SBI branch here failed to provide any information Thursday as to when the machine will start functioning. Officials said that the machine has not been loaded with cash. The situation has led to crowding in the SBI office here and in many cases social distancing norms are not being followed properly. This has increased chances of the spread of coronavirus.
Account holders also complained that there is lack of an adequate amount of cash in the SBI branch. Many times they have to return empty-handed and they are being forced to face financial hardships for no fault of theirs.
One can well imagine the cash crunch due to lack of work in rural areas of Odisha. Now if banks fail to offer services properly, it will no doubt increase woes of people who are already under a lot of strain since the outbreak of coronavirus.
PNN
