Central Bank to financially include 12 villages in state by Dec

As a part of its financial inclusion programme in Orissa, the Central Bank of India aims to cover 35 villages in the state by March 2011. Out of these, the bank would cover 12 villages in Cuttack district by the end of December this year and the remaining 23 villages in other parts of the state by March 2011.

"The Central Bank has been allotted 35 villages in Orissa under 'Financial Inclusion Plan' prepared by the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC). The bank will kick off the process of financial inclusion today. We will cover 12 villages in Cuttack district by December this year and 20,000 biometric cards will be distributed to the beneficiaries. The remaining 23 villages would be covered by March 2011”, said R K Dubey, executive director, Central Bank of India.

These biometric cards would facilitate payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Old Age Pension and Widow Pension.

The Central Bank is also looking to ramp up its branch network in the state. The bank, which has 65 branches at present, aims to scale up its network to 100 by March 2012. The bank also aims to install ATMs in 40-50 strategic locations of the state.

Dubey also stated that the Central Bank is also committed to fulfill the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) which it had signed with the Orissa government last year.

The bank had entered into an MoU with the state government in October 2009 to strengthen credit flow to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the state.

According to the agreement, the bank will deploy funds worth Rs 25,000 crore for MSMEs on incremental basis over a period of five years and open new branches in industrial areas. The deal was signed between the bank and the state-run IPICOL.

Speaking on the occasion, Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, the state finance minister, “The SLBC has already finalized the roadmap for financial inclusion for the PSU banks in the state. The next SLBC meeting is scheduled for November 16 where the progress made by the banks on financial inclusion would be reviewed. We want to see that every village in the state is covered under financial inclusion.”