Demonetization Affects IIT-Kgp, Writes to HRD Ministry for Relaxation in Withdrawal Limit 

The demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes by the Central Government has not only affected the common people but also the premier higher education institutes of the country like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the transaction of money.

Facing the difficulties in its money transaction, one of the leading IITs of the country, IIT-Kharagpur has recently written to the Human Resouces Development Ministry for a relaxation in the weekly withdrawal limit. IIT has cited the difficulties in its communique that the institute has been facing in the day-to-day functioning. The government has fixed the weekly withdrawal limit at INR 24,000.

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Registrar of IIT-Kharagpur has written to V S Oberoi, Higher Education Secretary of HRD Ministry and requested him for exemption from this limit. Sources from Human Resource Development Ministry reveal that they may soon write to the Finance Ministry to communicate the problems being faced by universities and institutes as they require more cash to carry out their administrative functions.

But it is not clear if the ministry will give the concession only to the centrally funded institutions or all institutes. No clear indication is coming out from the Ministry of Finance in this regard.

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While sharing the difficulties the institute has been facing, an official of IIT Kharagpur, unwilling to disclose his name, said that they are a community of 20,000 people on campus with 40 academic units at the institute. They are at the receiving end ever since the demonetization process was initiated by the government. The institute requires close to INR 2 lakh in cash to carry out various functions. The institute is not used to functioning cashless. Therefore they have requested the ministry to relax the withdrawal embargo for them.