Cash vans unable to refill ATMs, banks in hills may soon run dry

Banks in the Darjeeling hills are running out of cash and may soon be dry.

Public and private sector banks have 55 branches in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong. With people not depositing money and cash-vans unable to make it to the hills due to the bandh, these branches may run out of cash any day, senior officers in the sector told HT. State Bank of India (SBI), with 18 branches in the hills, is the worst hit.

With the GJM determined to continue the strike, supply of currency notes has become uncertain. GJM activists frequently stop and even allegedly attack vehicles. As a result, companies that provide cash vans and security guards to banks are refusing to bear the risk. “We have not allowed any exemption for banks and ATMs. So, there is no question of giving passage to currency vans headed for hills. In any case, if the branches and ATMs remain closed, what will cash-vans do here?” Jiten Rai, chief adviser to Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Manch, the youth wing of GJM, told HT.

Due to the cash crunch, payment of weekly wages to tea garden workers may be affected. “SBI is the banker for many tea gardens,” said Ashoke Mukherjee, former joint secretary of SBI staff association.

A senior representative of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), West Bengal, confirmed the situation is critical. “Manas Dhar, convener of SLBC, West Bengal and general manager of United Bank of India, is out of station. He is expected to return on Thursday. Once he is back we will ask him to convene an emergency meeting and take up the matter with the state government,” he told HT.