Notes ban: 2 dead in less than 24 hours while standing in queue to take out cash from ATM

New Delhi: An easy process like withdrawing cash from ATM has claimed lives of two persons in less than 24 hours after the demonetisation by the central government. In a sad incident, an old age man died while standing in a queue for withdrawing cash from an ATM in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district. The person died due to a heart attack. In another incident, a farmer died after suffering heart attack while standing in queue outside a bank to exchange notes in Gujarat's Anand, said Police. Tempers are running high as millions of anxious cash-starved people waited for hours for the third day in a row on Saturday outside overworked banks to deposit or exchange their spiked denomination notes or withdraw cash from heavily crowded ATMs across India. Pensioners can withdraw more than Rs 10000: RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that the pensioners can withdraw more than Rs 10000 from their bank accounts while uncertainties prevail whether 34 lakh beneficiaries under different social security measures will get their due at appropriate time. Claiming that the banks have enough currency notes to meet the customers' demands, RBI, Bhubaneswar, General Manager SP Mohanty said that the banks are directed to allow the pensioners to withdraw more than Rs 10,000 cash on a single day. "The apex bank has ensured availability of currency notes of Rs 2000, Rs 100 denomination in Maoist prone areas also," Mohanty said assuring the people, including those living in rural areas. "Efforts are on to provide mobile bank facilities in the areas where banking services are not available," he said. However, the distressed people covered under different social securiy schemes like old age pension, widow pension and disability person are apprehensive on the payment. "As these people get only Rs 300 a month as pension, we are not sure where the state government can arrange Rs 100 denomination currency notes worth Rs 135 crore for payment this month," said a senior official at the department of social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities. Meanwhile, ATMs at many places including the state capital here did not churn out cashes compounding miseries of people while long queues were witnessed at bank branches for the third consecutive day across the state. Tourists and foreign nationals also faced the burnt of the Centre's demonetisation exercise. The Department of Post, has decided to keep post offices in all states including Odisha open on Sunday. ATMs to disburse new currency by early December: Finance Ministry The Finance Ministry said on Saturday that the ATMs will be able to disburse new currency notes only by early December as recalibration of the machines requires both hardware and software modifications. "Recalibration (requires both software and hardware changes) of ATMs is going on, which will be completed by end of this month or early December. Other denominations will then be disbursed by ATMs," a statement from Finance Ministry said. "Presently only Rs 100 notes are being disbursed from the ATMs. Out of 2 lakh ATMs, about 1.2 lakh are operational," it added. Taking stock of the issuance of new currency notes to the public, Finance Ministry said that a total of over seven crore transactions have taken place in less than three days after the demonetisation was announced. "A total of over 7 crore transactions have taken place from November 9 up to mid-day of November 12 (i.e. in the last two and a half days) for deposit, exchange of old notes and withdrawal from ATM and over the counter," it said. "Old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations amounting to about Rs 2 lakh crore have been deposited to banks," it said. Ministry of Finance along with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Indian Banks Association (IBA) and a few major banks participated in the review meeting on Saturday to take stock of the cash availability, it said. "There is sufficient cash available with RBI and Banks. They were advised step up the supply of cash to the public," the statement said. The availability of cash and issuance of cash to bank branches and post offices on a daily basis is being constantly monitored and necessary rebalancing being done for more efficient allocation of banknotes of requisite denominations between different areas, it said. To cater to the requirement of rural areas, banks were advised to supply notes of smaller denominations (Rs 100 and less) as well as Rs 10 coins, it added. One of the primary objectives of cancellation of legal tender character of old series of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes was to check the menace of terror financing through counterfeit currency notes. The receipt of counterfeits currency notes is being monitored closely. RBI has been advised by the government to set up a special cell to monitor the receipt of fake currency notes and inform such instances to the Economic Offences Wing of the state police, enforcement agencies of the Central Government and also to the Ministry of Finance. "The law enforcement agencies have also been advised to maintain close vigil over possible movement of fake currencies and take prompt action as and when such cases are detected by them as well as by RBI and banks," it said.