BEST to give rupees 2000 in coins as salary to each employee or has to pay rupees 40 lakh per month to banker for deposit of coins worth rupees four crores
A private banker to Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking in Mumbai has demanded deposit-charges of 10-percent of value of coins where about rupees four-crore worth of coins are collected every month by BEST as ticket-money in its 27 depos. Already coins worth more than rupees twelve crores are lying packed in gunny bags under surveillance. Not only cost is being incurred on storage and surveillance of coin-bags, but also there is an interest-loss of more than rupees 31000 daily. BEST is also considering rupees 2000 worth of coins to be paid to each employee towards monthly salary.
There should be provision that every government-undertaking (central and states) must have accounts only in public-sector bank. At least Maharashtra is privileged that public-sector Bank of Maharashtra retains its exclusive identity by not being merged in other bank despite being quite small in business-size with wide-spread network of branches all over Maharashtra. Maharashtra government should ensure that all accounts of state-government and other public-sector bodies including BEST must have accounts only in Bank of Maharashtra. It may be recalled that eyebrows were raised on salary-accounts of police-persons in Maharashtra being with a private bank allegedly due to wife of a former political ruler being on senior position at that bank.
Coins in most unpopular denominations of rupees 10 (and also of newly introduced 20-rupees) should be discontinued to be minted also because of fake 10-rupee coins largely in circulation. RBI and Central Government should take urgent steps to introduce plastic currency with longer life in low-denomination notes as was announced long back by the then Union Minister of Finance Namo Narain Meena on 12.03.2013 in written reply in Rajya Sabha. Coins should be minted only in denominations of rupees one and five that too with smaller sizes like earlier one-paise coin. Coin-bags should be in uniform capacities of 100 and 2000 coins to be available at all bank-branches respectively for consumers and bulk-users.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL