India News | Odisha CM Launches Scheme Aimed at Providing Banking Services in All Panchayat Areas
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday launched a scheme that aims to bring all panchayat areas in the state under the banking network.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 28 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday launched a scheme that aims to bring all panchayat areas in the state under the banking network.
Launching the 'Ama Bank' scheme, Patnaik said 65 per cent of the state's panchayat areas do not have any bank branches, while financial inclusion is the foundational premise of social and economic progress and empowerment of people.
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"No country or state can ever attain inclusive growth without achieving financial inclusion for its people. Reaching out to the people at the bottom of the pyramid and delivery of public services to the last mile in a fair and transparent manner has been one of the highest priority agenda of the state government," he said.
He said the scheme will be implemented in a phased manner to cover all 4,373 unbanked panchayats of the state within the ongoing fiscal.
As part of the scheme, the state government is providing rent-free space for five years to banks for opening CSP-Plus (Customer Service Point) outlets. The government will also bear one-time expenses for fixed costs, and recurring expenses for a period of three years.
A provision of Rs 500 crore has been made for this scheme, Patnaik said.
On the inaugural day, 750 CSP-Plus outlets were opened.
"The CSP-Plus model innovated by Odisha will become a model for the rest of the country," the chief minister said.
Six Public Sector Banks (PSBs) -- State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India -- were roped in for the scheme.
These CSP-Plus outlets have been enabled to provide all facilities that are available in a fully functional branch, except providing credit of any kind, including loans, officials said.
Patnaik said financial inclusion has remained a challenge as the geographical penetration of banks in the state has been dismal.
"About 65 per cent of our gram panchayats do not have a brick-and-mortar bank branch, leading to severe challenges and difficulties in accessing banking services," he said.
"The rate at which brick and mortar branches have been set up in the state over the last five years, it would take us more than 30 years to set up a branch in every unbanked panchayat," he added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)