Banking in East Godavari will be heading for a radical change from the new year with the facility at the doorstep in 436 uncovered villages in the district. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed the 17 scheduled banks with 15 public sector and two private sector banks to extend the facility under their service area. The concerned banks under the guidance of the lead bank in the district identified these 436 villages with over 2,000 population from the total 1,032 uncovered villages. The banks either have to open branches at these villages or provide service in the form of operations through business correspondents on their behalf. According to reliable sources, bankers have opted for the second mode in the form of service providers. These will visit the village on banking days in banking hours and conduct operations at the village panchayat office. All operations that are permitted by the bank can be had from the service provider at these places. These include savings bank operations, extension of loans and repayment, acceptance of fixed deposits, loans and other activities pertaining to women’s self-help groups, payments of cheques to farmers for paddy, maize and other purchases by women’s groups and agriculture department and allied activity. The concerned bank branch will cross-check these transactions and update records through the computers attached to operations by these service providers. The East Godavari lead bank district manager, Mr S. Jagannadha Raju, said on Sunday that the RBI has directed these banks to provide the facility to villages of above 2,000 population on or before March 31, 2012.
DC
