‘Do not question source of money’

- Collector advises bankers to set up special counters for women, differently-abled people and senior citizens
- Says district administration would send some employees to assist bank staff in currency exchange operations if necessary

Eluru: West Godavari district Collector K Bhaskar said that about 2,000 counters have been opened at all the bank branches across the district for the purpose of exchanging currency notes and asked the people to make use of the same. The Collector conducted an emergency meeting with higher officials from the banking sector at the Collectorate on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion he said about 596 bank branches would serve the people in exchanging their currency. Each person can exchange Rs4, 000 per day through these special counters and the banks would function on Saturday and Sunday also, said the Collector. He suggested that people who were in urgent need of money only go to the banks for exchanging currency as there was time up to December 30. He suggested to bankers to set up special counters for women, differently-able and senior citizens. He asked bank officials not to question the public about the source of money and merely accept the money from them. He said the district administration would send some employees to assist the bank employees if necessary.

Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Bhushan assured that police would escort the vehicles that transport the money to the banks. Lead District Bank Manager M Subrahmanyeswara Rao, Andhra Bank Assistant General Manager Gurumurthy, SBI Regional Manager Sudhakar and various banks’ controllers and coordinators participated in the meeting.