: The Odisha Government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six public sector banks to provide banking services in all unbanked panchayats of the State through Customer Service Point (CSP) outlets.
The banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.
The State Cabinet had in August approved a proposal in this regard to provide banking service in as many as 4,373 unbanked panchayats of the State with budgetary support of around Rs 500 crore.
Out of 6,798 GPs, around 65% of them (4373 GPs) do not have brick-and-mortar bank branches. However, the progress in terms of setting up such branches in unbanked GPs by banks is very slow and negligible. Therefore, the State Government has come forward with an ambitious target of providing banking services to every GP through CSP Plus banking outlets, the government had said in a Press release.
The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner to cover all 4,373 unbanked GPs for providing banking services through CSP Plus banking outlets within the current financial year 2023-24. The State Government would provide rent-free banking space for five years. In addition, the government would also bear one-time expenses for Fixed Cost & Recurring expenses for a period of three years, the release said.
The scheme would enhance the coverage of financial inclusion in the State in a big way. People residing in all unbanked GPs would have easy access to all kinds of banking services free of cost. Senior citizens, differently-abled people and pregnant women would get doorstep banking services and avail the Direct Benefit Transfer of the government in a timely manner, the release added.