The festive cheer turned into administrative a headache today as the disbursement of the “Festival Advance” triggered a banking frenzy across the state.
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The Rush: Following the Finance Department’s order, DDOs across all departments, boards, and corporations processed the ₹13,000 interest-free advance for eligible Class-IV employees. By mid-morning, SMS alerts sparked a state-wide dash to the nearest ATMs and bank counters.
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Chaos at Counters: * Technical Snags: Due to the simultaneous high volume of transactions, several bank servers in Rohtak and Hisar experienced temporary downtime.
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ATM Dry-outs: In residential colonies primarily occupied by government staff, ATMs ran out of cash within two hours, leading to heated arguments with bank security.
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The ” surety” factor: Since temporary employees were only granted the advance upon providing a surety from a permanent staff member, several banks saw large groups of employees arriving together to finalize paperwork, further clogging the lobbies.
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Police Intervention: In Panchkula’s Sector 5 and Sector 10 branches, local police were deployed to maintain order as queues spilled onto the main roads. “We understand the urgency for festive shopping, but the sheer volume of people trying to enter at once became a safety hazard,” said a local station house officer.
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Repayment Terms: The government has clarified that this amount will be recovered in 10 equal monthly installments (₹1,300 per month) starting from the next pay cycle.
Market Impact: The immediate withdrawal of these funds saw an instant ripple effect in the local markets. Footfall in the Ambala Cloth Market and Rohtak Quilla Road spiked in the afternoon as families began their “Diwali Shopping” immediately after securing their cash.
