GUWAHATI, Nov 13 - State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the State Government was in constant touch with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the State Bank of India (SBI), and assured that the public ordeal should end in a week�s time.
Unlike other parts of the country, the problem should not persist in Assam for a long period as it is a smaller economy, Sarma told media persons today.
�The cash flow into the State is increasing and things would improve from tomorrow,� he claimed.
�In Assam, we have 3,115 ATMs and the authorities have assured that all the ATMs will be made functional from today. We are concerned about the hardships faced by the common man. The note recalibration process by the SBI is also done,� Sarma said.
He also stated that of the 3,115 SBI ATMs, 2,900 of them have been loaded with currency of 100 denominations only. In the last three days, an amount of Rs 3,654 crore has been disbursed to the people of the North East, which include Rs 2,600 crore from SBI in Assam.
�Another Rs 1,100 crore has been disbursed by other banks operating in the State,� the Minister said. The SBI, he said, has already disbursed a total of Rs 800 crore, all in Rs 100 denomination across the State. �In the last three days, 20.82 lakh customers did transactions only in SBI alone,� he stated.
