NEW DELHI: With so little cash, you can’t even have a decent dinner, forget running regular diplomatic business, the Russian ambassador to India told New Delhi in a strongly worded letter as the country, a major global player and a key defence supplier for India, officially critiqued demonetisation-induced cash shortage for its diplomatic staff.
Diplomatic missions of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Sudan have also sent protest letters on cash withdrawal restrictions.
ET reported on December 3 ( Demonetisation Dollar Spat Between India, Pak ) that the Pakistan High Commission staff had refused to take salaries protesting new rules on withdrawing dollars.
Russian ambassador Alexander Kadakin, an old India hand, wrote to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) on December 2: “Please just imagine if we in Moscow mirror this order of SBI (State Bank of India) when 50,000 roubles will not be enough to pay for a decent dinner in a restaurant, not to mention functioning of such a big embassy as ours in New Delhi or India’s in Moscow.”
“SBI informed the Embassy that the cash withdrawal limit available to the Embassy is now Rs 50,000 per week under the government of India directives with no exceptions unless otherwise advised by the RBI,” he wrote. “Such an amount is totally inadequate as regards the embassy’s salary and operational expenditure requirements.”
Officials in the Russian embassy, who spoke off record, told ET that its New Delhi mission has a staff strength of 200 (excluding family members) and with the new withdrawal limit the cash at hand for one person comes to Rs 250 a week.
Kadakin in his letter urged MEA to intervene so that the withdrawal restrictions for diplomatic staff is lifted.
A senior diplomat in Delhi told ET that a number of missions have taken their case to MEA and many more may follow.
Some diplomats said Indian diplomats abroad may have to face similar restrictions if the situation does not improve.
They also said the restrictions may be against the spirit of the Vienna convention.
Kazakhstan celebrated its National Day recently amid “some difficulty” due to limits on cash withdrawal, diplomats told ET. Some other embassies are apprehensive that organising big diplomatic events may become problematic.
A task force of Ministry of External Affairs and finance ministry was set up after demonetisation was announced on November 8.
Some bank branches have been kept aside for transactions by diplomats so that mission staff can avoid long queues.
But foreign diplomats in India say there has to be a solution to the fundamental problem – ceiling on cash withdrawal.
Ministry of External Affairs has said it is working to find solution to the problem.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...dinner-russian-envoy/articleshow/55823340.cms
damn 250 rs per week per person for embassy staff including the ambassader
that is kinda cruel
Our sympathies are with you russian brothers. 
