Finance Minister Arun Jaitley though, says that adequate currency is in circulation and the temporary shortage will be tackled quickly.
The Congress has slammed Modi government, and even accused it of deliberately creating a situation of cash crunch in the country. Talking to ANI, Shukla said that there is an imbalance of currency available in various states at the moment, and the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are looking into the matter. "We have cash currency of Rs.1,25,000 crores right now".
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday formed a committee to tide over the cash crunch crisis that has hit a few states in the country to take a stock of the situation.
Amid news reports of a cash crunch from some parts of the country, the government on Tuesday said there is adequate currency in circulation and it is addressing a "temporary shortage" in some areas. "It'll be done in 3 days", Shukla said.
People in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat and Telangana too have reported problems in withdrawing money from ATMs. Complaints of cash crunch have been reported from semi-urban and rural regions of the states. "We need to pay for the admission of children and purchase groceries & vegetables". "We are facing difficulty, don't know what to do". The situation has been the same since last 15 days.
News agency ANI reports from Vadodara, "People complain of inconvenience due to lack of currency in ATMs; most of the ATMs were out of service, could only withdraw Rs 10,000 from one working ATM that also after spending a lot of time in the queue". "We have visited several ATMs since yesterday but it is the situation everywhere".
"Prior to note ban on November 8, 2016, the total value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination notes in circulation was Rs 17.74 lakh".
Public sector bank executives also said there is a spurt in demand for cash to make payments for agricultural activities as well. The issue will be resolved in three days, he added. "The government will act tough on this", he said. ATMs in other areas like the posh Hazratganj, Indira Nagar and Shahnajaf Road have been run dry for the last two days. He alleged a "conspiracy" to create a shortage of cash in the state, where assembly elections will be held later this year, by keeping the highest denomination notes out of circulation.
