Top Punjab Congress mobilized in mass campaign to help people at banks/ATMs

Chandigarh, November 15 : Acting on a directive from the party’s national vice president Rahul Gandhi, the Punjab Congress on Tuesday mobilized its entire top leadership across all districts of the state to help out harassed people waiting in queues outside banks and ATMs.
All MPs, MLAs/ex-MLAs, district presidents, block presidents, office-bearers of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), as well as ticket aspirants for the forthcoming Assembly elections, have been asked to reach out to people in all the districts and extend their support in every possible way.
Besides helping out with filling up forms for exchange of old currency for new, the Congress leaders have been asked to guide the harried customers through the technicalities of the process. People who are not familiar with ATM functioning are being helped through the complex systems by the party leaders, while others are being supported in different ways to make the entire exercise more bearable, PPCC general secretary Captain Sandeep Sandhu said.
With 100-150 party leaders on the ground in every district through the day, hundreds of needy people were helped out on the first day of this ongoing programme, according to Captain Sandhu. The Congress leaders are also making arrangements for water/tea etc for the people where needed, in line with the instructions issued by Mr. Rahul Gandhi, he added.
Reports reaching here from various districts said that most party leaders went around various banks in their areas, meeting people and organizing tea langars. Many of the party leaders could be seen helping out with filling of forms and listening to the woes of the people. They also went in to discuss the problems faced by the people with the respective bank authorities.
According to Sandhu, the instructions from the national leadership were clear and categorical – no person should have problems at the banks and ATMs. Hence, all the party leaders have been asked to stringently follow the directive from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and remain on the ground, at least for the next few days, till things stabilize a little.
The state-wide programme by the PPCC, involving all the state leaders, would continue till there is a positive change in the situation, triggered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dictatorial orders invalidating old 500 and 1000 rupee notes with immediate effect a week ago, said Captain Sandhu.