Bhubaneswar, September 13: The State Government on Wednesday entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six public sector banks, namely SBI, PNB, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda for providing banking services in all unbanked Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the State through CSP Plus banking outlets, said an official release.
According to I&PR Department, the MoUs with the banks were signed by the Finance Department in the presence of Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha and Development Commissioner Anu Garg at the Lokseva Bhawan here.
Out of 6,798 GPs, around 65 per cent of GPs (4, 373 GPs) do not have brick and mortar branches, it stated.
“Since banking is an essential service for financial inclusion, Government of Odisha has therefore come forward with an ambitious scheme for providing banking services to every GP through CSP Plus banking outlets,” it added.
The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner to cover all unbanked GPs of the State with in the current financial year 2023-24. The State Government will provide rent free banking space for five years. The State Government will also bear one-time expenses for Fixed Cost & Recurring expenses for a period of three years. A provision of Rs 500 crore has been made for the scheme.
“Odisha is the first State in the entire country to adopt such an exemplary model for providing banking services to all GPs,” it added.
