The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Banking will reach remotest villages: RBI official

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Tuesday, Nov 03, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Banking will reach remotest villages: RBI official

R. Arivanantham

First Model Village Programme in Tippireddihalli village inaugurated

Photo: N. Bashkaran.

For rural people: K.R. Ananda (second right), Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), distributing loans to SHG members after inaugurating the Model Village Programme at Tippireddihalli village in Dharmapuri district on Monday. M.S. Sundara Rajan (right), Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Bank, and Collector P. Amutha (left) are also in the picture. —

TIPPIREDDIHALLI (DHARMAPURI): Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee, wants to ensure that every household in the country should have a bank account and services of banks should reach the unreachable, i.e. the remotest villages, RBI Regional Director (Tamil Nadu & Puducherry) K.R. Ananda said here on Monday.

Mr. Ananda was here to inaugurate its first Model Village Programme in Tippireddihalli village through the Bommidi branch of Indian Bank in Dharmapuri district.

He said as part of its year-long Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the bank decided to reach the people. As instructed by RBI Governor V.S. Subbarao, the bank had started its village progamme in the state. The next village would be Kunnam in Erode district on November 30 and the rest of the villages would become “model” before March 2010, he said.

“Thirty five per cent of our population is yet to come under the financial inclusion even after 60 years of independence. Hence, the RBI evolved the programme to reach the people through its ‘out reach activities’ such as providing banking services to the people living in the remotest villages of our country,” said Mr. Ananda.

RBI would bring villages with a population of 2,000 and above into the banking fold through these kinds of unique programmes. It had instructed the banks to see to it that nobody was left out from financial inclusion. Banks were asked to identify such villages and serve the people at their door steps through the Banking Service Centre or by appointing business correspondents, he said.

Mr. Ananda also talked in detail about RBI’s monetary policies such as regulatory measures to control prices along with the efforts taken by the Centre to tackle recession. The global recession did not have much impact on the nation’s economy and the banking system which remained strong. “It is because of RBI’s liberal money policy that got our industrial sector going even during the tough time,” he said.

Nationalised banks

He asked nationalised banks to take the cue from RBI in adopting remote villages in their service area. “RBI can only show the way. It is the bankers who should continue the process,” He commended Indian Bank’s service to the poorest of the poor in the region as lead bank.

Later Mr. Ananda gave loans to self-help groups (SHGs), Kisan Cards, General Credit Cards, order on OD facility for savings bank accounts etc. to the villagers through Indian Bank, Bommidi Branch.

As part of this programme, a soiled notes and coin exchange mela was inaugurated by District Collector P. Amutha in a nearby school complex.

On behalf of the Reserve Bank of India’s Staff Training College, Chennai, first three rank holders from class 1 to 8 from the Government School in Tippireddihalli were given prizes.

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