Bhubaneswar: Blaming the Centre for cash crunch at banks and ATMs across the state, the ruling BJD today announced to stage a silent protest on Saturday.
The party will stage protest for two hours -from 10 AM to 12 noon in front of the RBI Headquarters in Bhubaneswar and all nationalised banks in sub-divisions and blocks across the State, informed BJD General Secretary Sanjay Dasburma at a Press meet here. However, functioning of the banks will not be affected by the protest, he added.
Dasburma said while the adverse effects of demonetisation is yet to get over, the unavailability of cash has posed even greater financial crisis for the general public
"While people are still facing problems due to demonetisation, drying up of ATMs for the last 15 days has put the public in huge crisis," he rued.
"At a recent review meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was informed that 2,21,700 ATMs across the country were paralysed till April 16. Besides, SBI's research bureau has estimated a shortfall of Rs 70,000 crore in the market," he said.
The cash crunch has affected people of all walks of life in the State, including farmers, students and women in the State, added the BJD leader.
It may be mentioned here that of late banks in Odisha have been facing severe cash shortage with many ATMs showing 'no cash' signboards for the past few weeks.