Tamil Nadu - Dindigul   

Bank comes to their relief

K. Raju

PROBLEMS GALORE: Flood affected persons waiting in a long queue to deposit their cheques at a bank in Dindigul on Thursday.

DINDIGUL: Flood relief distribution posed a new problem here, with the authorities choosing to issue account payee cheques as part of the package to beneficiaries. Because of this step, flood affected people have been running from pillar to post to encash the cheque.

Bank branch managers are insisting that the beneficiaries should open savings bank account to deposit their cheques.

Just as the beneficiaries grew desperate and a flashpoint appeared imminent, Canara Bank's main branch came to their rescue.

It accepted the account-payee cheques and disbursed cash across the counter to 1,650 people, mostly from Kannivadi and Thadikombu towns, on Thursday. People queued up from the morning to collect cash.

The problem began when revenue department issued account payee cheques for the relief amount of Rs.1, 000 in order to prevent crowding or any untoward incident at the government offices.

The recent stampede in Chennai is said to have prompted them to disburse relief amount through banks, revenue officials said.

"When we approached banks near our villages, bank managers asked us to open an account to deposit cheques. With no option, we asked the village administrative officer to make alternative arrangements," one of beneficiaries said, adding that Canara Bank came forward to encash the cheques.

Canara Bank main branch manager, Seetharaman said "We have distributed cash across the counter for account payee cheques after verifying signature of beneficiaries and photo in ration cards for the convenience . On an average, we have been disbursing cash to 600 beneficiaries per day." The bank has to disburse the cash component to 10,000 beneficiaries, according to official sources.

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