Demonetisation affects industries, farmers

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, November 25

Demonetisation has started taking its toll on big industries and high-yielding agricultural Terai region as well as on SIDCUL industries and farmers in the adjoining agricultural belt of the state.

Industries are forced to make a cut in their production and so is the case with agro-production as banks in Kumaon region need a sum of Rs 3,500 crore to revitalise industrial units and agriculture system in Terai areas of Kumaon region, sources said in Rudrapur today.

“We alone in Nainital district need over Rs 1,100 crore in Rs 100, Rs 500 and 2,000 currency notes to resurrect the system and end the queue before the banks,” said DK Jayaswal, district lead bank officer of Nainital.

According to sources in SIDCUL, factories in the belt have witnessed a 35 per cent fall in their industrial production in the last 15 days. The sources said factories were facing cash crunch in taking raw material and sending manufactured goods from the unit.

“We have started a cut in shifts in units as due to cash crunch we are finding ourselves in no position to meet expenses in sending truckloads of Kolkata and Chennai ports,” said Ajay Tiwari, president, SIDCUL Entrepreneur Society at Rudrapur.

According to District Cooperative Bank sources in Rudrapur, the agriculture production is likely to reduce by 30 per cent in Terai this season as over 30 per cent farmers have not sown wheat due to lack of cash in hand to purchase seed and other essentials for sowing the crop. “Due to the restrictions imposed by the RBI on district cooperative banks, we are neither in a position to take deposits from farmers of their loans back nor are we able to give them fresh loans to buy agricultural inputs,” said KK Kamal, manager of the Rudrapur branch of district cooperative bank.