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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Hamlet becomes banking smart by Amit Gupta

Hamlet becomes banking smart by Amit Gupta

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published Published on Dec 16, 2010   modified Modified on Dec 16, 2010
Farmer Dharamshyam Kujur put the hitherto nondescript village of Doba in Kudu block of Lohardaga district on the banking map of India today as he withdrew Rs 100 from his newly opened account.

Watching him create history was Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao, who, as part of RBI’s ambitious outreach programme aimed at financial inclusion, inaugurated a smart card-based satellite banking system in the village earlier in the day.

As Kujur received his money from business agent Reena, who has been employed by Bank of India (BoI) that has opened a new branch in neighbouring Tati village, it was a dream come true for his fellow villagers who now have banks literally on their doorstep.

After reaching the tiny village surrounded by sakhua trees, the RBI chief disarmed his hosts by stating: “Main Mumbai se aaya hoon, main RBI governor hoon, main chahata hoon ki har gram in bank se jude (I have come from Mumbai. I am the RBI governor and I wish that all the villages use banking services).”

The satellite banking system that Subbarao inaugurated works with the help of a GPRS-enabled hand-held device, which is operated by business agents employed by the banks to provide services in remote villages.

The device has three main features — a slot to insert a smart card, which will be givento villagers who open accounts with a nationalised bank, a space to record fingerprints as authentication and a rectangular display board that displays messages and speaks as well to illiterate villagers.

As soon as Kujur withdrew Rs 100, the message board displayed that he had Rs 395 left in his account, which was confirmed by the account holder.

Chief secretary A.K. Singh, who was present on the occasion, said during his tour of Chatra he was aghast to find villagers encashing their Rs 100 cheques for Rs 70 in order to avoid complicated bank transactions and delays. “In many instances, I found it took about two months for poor MGNREGS labourers to encash their cheques and they had to travel miles to avail banking services. Now, I hope the satellite-based smart card system willsolve their problem,” he said.

It was also an opportune moment for the chief secretary to air his grievances on behalf of the people.

“The banks operating in the state have never achieved the target of distribution ofKisan Credit Cards. Cash deposit ratio is a meagre 43 per cent here compared to the national average of 73 per cent. Moreover, there is one bank for a population of 18,000 while RBI’s mandate is to open a bank ina village/area with a population of 2,000,” he said, much to the concern of top officials of various nationalised banks who were present.

State Bank of India has already distributed 67 smart cards in Doba village and aims toopen 800 accounts soon. The accounts are being opened at the SBI branchin the district headquarters of Lohardaga, but the villagers will not need to visit the branch and instead can rely on the business agent who will visit their village regularly to allow the account holders to withdraw/deposit money.

SBI’s deputy general manager R. Venkatachalam, Patna-based general manager D. Majumdar and Jharkhand-based deputy general manager Pinak Chakraborty were present on the occasion today.


The Telegraph, 15 December, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101216/jsp/frontpage/story_13307067.jsp


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