THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Saving a penny for the future is not only a wise man’s counsel but for the Reserve Bank of India also, on a different scale. But when the state is reeling under acute coin shortage, the RBI Regional Office here has created a record of sorts by holding Rs 29.04 crore worth of coins of various denominations as on December 1, 2011.In a startling disclosure, forced through the RTI filed at the Department of Currency Management, RBI Central Office, Mumbai, it has come to light that the RBI Regional Office has kept more than 80pc of the coin stocks under its custody from January-November, 2011.The information availed of by the Right to Information Protection Forum (RIPF) shows that though coins valued at Rs 27.67 crore were issued to public during the 11 months from January 1, 2011, the RBI branch had kept a stock of coins worth a whopping Rs 29.04 crore undistributed.During the same period, the designated mints have supplied coins valued at Rs 42.07 crore to the branch against indents given by RBI ‘after assessing the genuine need of the people’.Kerala region has been facing acute shortage in circulation of various denominations of Rs 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 and Rs 5 notes for quite some time and through the disclosure, which was furnished to RIPF secretary N Rajendran, it is clear that the RBI regional office is only aggravating it.However, the RBI headquarters occasionally clarifies that there is no shortage of coins and that members of the public, shops and commercial establishments can obtain their requirements from Regional Offices or from designated cash chest branches of commercial banks.Interestingly, the RBI has also given a further clarification on March 2 that in the disclosed stocks, Rs 10 coin denominations amounted to a hefty Rs 14.81 crore.The RBI had given indents to the government-designated mints for the supply of Rs 10 coins worth Rs 18.24 crore during March, April, September, October and November last year. Kerala is one of the states with the highest population density of 859 people/sq km, three times the national average of 324.Census Kerala 2011 has put Kerala’s population at 3,33,87,677 persons from 66.77 lakhs of families.The Union Government had resorted to import of coins in the recent past to augment indigenous production. Currency notes in denomination of Rs 5 also have been reintroduced to supplement coins of that denomination.
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