Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday said that a total of 1,333 ‘Micro ATMs’ will be installed at Primary Co-operative Societies for use by farmers in the State.
He was addressing State-level Training Camp and Convention of newly appointed office-bearers of Cooperative Societies at Indoor Stadium here.
Singh said that the State Government purchases around 70 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers for which around Rs 10,300 crore is paid to the farmers.
About 10 lakh farmers have so far received Kisan Rupay cards in the State, he informed.
The Chief Minister said that the bonus amount for paddy will be directly credited to bank account of farmers.
Singh said that Co-Operative Societies have the capacity to alter the economic landscape of the State. lakhs of youth can be employed in cottage and small trades through the medium of co-operatives.
He also inaugurated the Convention by hoisting the Co-Operative flag.
Singh, who was the chief guest, said that two-day training camp will be held for the newly elected office-bearers at the Divisional headquarter towns soon. The co-operatives’ representatives will be given training in purchase of paddy, Public Distribution System, food, seeds distribution and small trades.
He said that about 52 lakh school children are provided with uniforms in the entire State. Thousands of weavers and women’s self-help groups can be provided with employment if the co-operatives take up sewing, weaving and distribution of uniforms.
The Chief Minister added that 15 to 16 Societies had come forward for the processing of cashew nuts at Bastar. Fifty groups do marketing of Kadakhnath Chicken poultry. The groups should be encouraged through the medium of Co-operatives.
Singh revealed that Chhattisgarh is among the top five fish producing states in the entire country. A lot of work can be done in milk production also.
He said that 95 Primary Co-Operative Societies had been entrusted with the responsibility of distributing domestic gas connections under the Prime Minister Ujjwala scheme.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh State Co-Operative Bank limited and District Co-Operative Central limited Bank are issuing Ru-Pay Kisan credit cards to all the farmers under their jurisdiction in the State, officials informed.
About 7.31 lakh farmers were issued Ru-Pay Kisan credit cards against target of 10,000 farmers in the fiscal 2017-18 till April this year.
The farmers will have easy access to loans facility, they informed.
APEX Bank officials said that District Co-Operative Central limited Bank Raipur had issued 1,32,525 Kisan Credit card holders Ru-Pay Kisan credit cards.
With an objective to provide facilities to farmers and bank account holders, the Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Bank (Apex Bank) has already installed several ATMs in the State.
Notably, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had ordered to open Cooperative bank branch offices in Kharsia, Dharamjaigarh, Saranggarh and Baramkela whereas the preparations for opening branch offices in Jashpur and Patthalgaon has also been made to provide facilities to the farmers, officials informed.
It needs to be mentioned that as many as eight State Cooperative banks in Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur, Bilaspur and Ambikapur whereas branch office of Apex Bank in Raigarh have been running wherein 13 ATMs including one in Raipur District Cooperative Bank, three in Durg District Cooperative Bank, two in Rajnandgaon District Cooperative Bank, two in Jagdalpur District Cooperative Bank, and one each in Bilaspur and Ambikapur District Cooperative Bank have been installed.
It may be recalled that in during financial year 2016-17, with a view to providing secure and accessible facility for financial transaction, the Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Bank limited (Apex Bank) started installing Micro ATMs for use by farmers in Cooperative societies all over the State, officials informed.
The Apex Bank had invited proposals from 1,333 Cooperative societies for providing on-line facility to the farmers so that farmers could take advantage of e-facility for banking and other works.
Similarly, Apex Bank will convert Kisan Credit Card into RuPay Debit Card so that farmers can do transaction and deposit as well through RuPay Debit Card.
RuPay Debit Card is beneficial for cash transfer into other bank accounts too.
It may be recalled that Chhattisgarh is among two other states which seem to be doing better than average regarding number of people living near banks compared to some other States, the Economic Survey 2016-17 report has mentioned.
In year 2015 in a majority of states, people are 3-5 km away from any form of access point (bank branches, ATMs and Banking Correspondents, it stated.
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have persons travelling over 5 km to access formal financial services.
Surprisingly, the relatively poorer states of UP and Bihar (in addition to Chhattisgarh) seem to be doing better than average — with people living closer to the banks. This could merely be a function of high population density, it observed.
Financial inclusion in India has progressed substantially since the launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the report mentioned.