Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six public sector banks to provide banking services in all unbanked Gram Panchayats of the State.
The State Government, represented by the Finance Department, signed the MoU with SBI, PNB, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda for providing banking services in all unbanked Gram Panchayats of the State through CSP Plus banking outlets.
The MoU was inked in the presence of Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha; Development Commissioner Anu Garg; Principal Secretary, Finance Department Vishal Kumar Dev; Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department Sushil Kumar Lohani, Principal Secretary, E&IT Department Manoj Kumar Mishra and other dignitaries.
Out of 6798 GPs, around 65% of GPs (4373 GPs) do not have brick and mortar branches. Since banking is an essential service for financial inclusion, the State Government has therefore come forward with an ambitious scheme for providing banking services to every GP through CSP Plus banking outlets.
The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner to cover all unbanked GPs of the State within the current financial year 2023-24.
The Government will provide rent free banking space for 5 years. It will also bear one-time expenses for Fixed Cost & Recurring expenses for a period of three years. A provision of Rs. 500 Cr. has been made for the scheme.
This is one of the land mark initiatives by any State Government to transform financial inclusion and take it to the next level in line with the 5T Mantra of CM Naveen Patnaik.
Odisha is the first State in the entire country to adopt such an exemplary model for providing banking services to all GPs, according to an official statement.