Setting up women self-help groups in Kekargarh panchayat in Panki block is proving a difficult task for Palamu administration.
Deputy Commissioner Palamu K Srinivasan told The Pioneer that administration had planned to form at least adozen women self help groups here in this Kekargarh panchayat where come twelve revenue villages and one ‘be chiragi’ village.However when the Pioneer straight way pointed out to Srinivasan that there is no bank either the main stream bank like SBI, PNB, CBI etc or rural bank like vananchal gramin bank here in a radius of 18 kilometers worry writ large on the face of Srinivasan who said ‘ I am to preside over a meeting with the bankers in Daltonganj this December month and I will ask the bankers to do something for the people of this panchayat’.
A self help group (SHG) has to be linked to any nationalized bank and here in the whole of the Kekargarh panchayat having in all 13 villages has no bank of any kind. Villagers say in times of sickness or marriage a poor family depends upon Sahukar ( money lender) and lending is done @ of 10 rupees per hundred per thirty days.
Srinivasan’s next of priority for this red ridden panchayat Kekargarh is how to increase the income of the household here. He said a house hold survey has to be done to chalk out village development plan and this VDP is to be prepared only by the villagers. There would be three categories of VDP.
At Kekargarh which is the name of a village also has poor cell phone connectivity and here security forces when come face enormous problems. Srinivasan said ‘ I understand how difficult it is to get connected to outside Kekargarh. I will ask BSNl to come and help by way of setting up tower here’.