Demonetization: Army called in to load, transport notes

The Bank Note Press has the capacity to produce two crore pieces of notes a day. About 200 Army jawans have arrived from Gwalior and Mhow in the past two days. The jawans would be helping mainly the loading and transportation of currency notes.

Army jawans are now assisting the Bank Note Press employees at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh who are tackling the enormous demand for currency notes in the wake of demonetization.

"Arrival of Army jawans at BNP has not only boosted the morale of employees, but it would also help ramp up the production," said Kamal Chouhan, president of BNP Employees Welfare Committee, speaking to PTI.

BNP, which comes under the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL), had earlier called up the retired employees to help in the production. It can produce two crore pieces of notes a day.

"About 200 Army jawans have arrived from Gwalior and Mhow in the past two days," said a senior official.

As many as 1,300 employees of BNP, along with 30 retired employees who have been called up, are involved in the production of 15 million currency notes a day. "Now the production may go up to the full capacity of 20 million," the officer said. BNP is at present printing notes of Rs 500 denomination.

Army jawans would be helping with non-technical work, mainly the loading and transportation of currency notes to the nearest airport at Indore.

Praveen Garg, CMD, SPMCIL, has visited the BNP twice after the demonetization announcement. He was informed about the shortage of staff and subsequently the retired employees were summoned, but the problem persisted, a source said.

"CMD then wrote to the Centre urging it to make the Army jawans available," the source added.