State Bank of India has achieved its target of covering one lakh un-banked villages ahead of the March 2010 deadline, with the opening of a customer service point at Sannyasidanga village near Jangipur in West Bengal on January 31.
It was inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
It also coincided with the opening of a rural ATM at Barala village, 2 km away, and a branch at Jangipur town. SBI has now decided to cover at least one lakh more villages out of the over five lakh unbanked villages in India.
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There are about 6.5 lakh villages, of which the majority do not have access to banking services. In April 2008, SBI Chairman O. P. Bhatt set a challenging task of covering one lakh unbanked villages by March 2010 by providing basic banking facilities to its population.