According to the government and the RBI, the currency in circulation(खपत/प्रसार) has normalised(सामान्यीकृत), after demonetisation knocked off the bulk(विस्तार/बड़ा हिस्सा) of it.Yet, several states have reported a severe cash crunch(संकट/कमी),people complaining of ATMs running dry and not being able to find enough cash to run their business. It is welcome that the government and the RBI have acted promptly to set up a committee to rectify(सुधारना/संशोधन करना) the problem, both to step up printing currency notes and to transfer notes from states that have no shortage of them to those that do.Notes and coins in circulation at the end of March, as a proportion of GDP for the year ended March, stood at 10.9% in 2017-18, barely(मात्र) 6% lower than the 11.6% in 2015-16. March 2016 was well before demonetisation and when digital payments had not acquired(प्राप्त) the kind of momentum they have now.
In March 2018, digital payments have become far more prevalent(प्रचलित/चालू), with electronic payment wallets and payment banks ever more popular and supported by mobile phone apps that allow people to transact(चलाना/प्रबंध करना) safely and conveniently(आसानी से/सुविधापूर्वक), powered by the National Payments Corporation’s capable infrastructure. Use of cash by the public at large would definitely have come down. GST has forced large swathes of the economy to become formal and dispense with the need to use cash exclusively(विशेष रूप से।). The current state of shaken confidence in banking has been blamed for the cash crunch. Some people might have taken fright at the banks’ burden(बोझ/भार) of bad loans and scams, true. But that should result in shortage(कमी/अभाव) of cash across the country, not in some states.A more likely explanation is politics. Most of the states experiencing cash shortage are poll-bound, this year or the next. Indian politicians deal almost exclusively(केवल/अनन्यतः रूप से) in cash, and are probably(शायद/मुमकिन है) building up their war chests. The remedy: poll funding reform.
Important Vocabulary
1.Circulation(खपत/प्रसार)
Synonyms: currency, dissemination, apportionment, spread, transmission
Antonyms: blockage
2.Rectify(सुधारना/संशोधन करना)
Synonyms: amend, fix, improve, redress, remedy
Antonyms: corrupt, harm, hurt, injure, worsen
3.Bulk(विस्तार/बड़ा हिस्सा)
Synonyms: amount, extent, quantity, total, volume
Antonyms: insignificance, part, tininess
4.Conveniently(आसानी से/सुविधापूर्वक),
Synonyms: cleverly, conveniently, easily, smoothly, intelligently
5.Transact(चलाना/प्रबंध करना)
Synonyms: accomplish, buy, clinch, close, conclude
Antonyms: abandon, bear, begin, commence, create
