'Invent machine that can count currency faster...' V-P Dhankhar to IIT-Dhanbad students amid I-T raid (WATCH)
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar encouraged IIT Dhanbad students to invent a fast currency-counting machine during the annual convocation. This request comes in the wake of recent Income Tax raids where at least 25 counting machines had to be deployed to tally recovered crores of Rupees linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu.
FollowVice President Jagdeep Dhankar has urged students at IIT Dhanbad to invent a machine that can count currency notes at a fast rate. The remarks during the annual convocation of IIT Dhanbad (ISM) come at a time when Income Tax officials had to deploy at least 25 counting machines to count the crores of Rupees recovered during raids on premises linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu
In a marathon effort, officials from three State Bank of India (SBI) branches in Bolangir, Titlagarh, and Sambalpur successfully completed the counting of seized cash by Sunday evening. The operation, involving over three dozen counting machines and 80 officials, saw the tallying of substantial amounts in crores.
The Bolangir Main Branch of SBI emerged at the forefront, where at least 50 employees worked tirelessly to count an impressive Rs 305 crore. Utilizing 25 counting machines, the staff faced pressure from IT officials to conclude the operation by midnight.
Bhagat Behera, the regional manager of SBI Bolangir, provided insights into the exhaustive process, stating that 176 bags containing denominations of Rs 100, Rs 200, and Rs 500 were transported to the Bolangir Main Branch from a liquor company's office in Sudapada locality just two days prior. Despite battling fatigue and machine breakdowns, the dedicated staff worked continuously, counting day and night, with minimal breaks. Behera highlighted that the cash counted in the last three days surpassed the annual processing volume.
An official involved in the counting process shared the challenges encountered, explaining, "We had to keep 40 machines on standby as machines stopped working. Many currency notes were stuck together due to mildew deposits, requiring the use of dryers to separate them." Importantly, the official emphasized that there were no duplicate or Rs 2,000 currency notes involved in the seized cash.
The urgency to conclude the counting operation was driven by IT officials, and the SBI branches in Sambalpur and Titlagarh also successfully tallied Rs 48.5 crore. The meticulous counting process shed light on the scale and complexity of the operation, showcasing the dedication of the SBI staff in managing and accounting for substantial sums of seized cash.
