To promote and popularise cashless transactions in rural areas, the Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB) has come out with an innovative method of employing women in villages. In a release here, bank chairman S. Ravindran said that the bank would appoint women business correspondents called “Bank Sakhi” in select villages where this scheme would be implemented. To start with, the bank had hired 11 “Bank Sakhis” and had plans to appoint a minimum of 50 such women in different districts, he said.
It would be possible to ensure greater participation in financial inclusion by engaging women in villages. A “Bank Sakhi” is someone who has been a member of a self-help group involved in conducting banking and book-keeping activities of the group.
As a “Bank Sakhi”, she will provide a range of financial services on behalf of the bank to her community. She will be supported by the local self-help group which provides capacity enhancement, training and financial awareness in the community. She is paid a commission by the bank for different services, which covers her costs and provides her with an income.
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The bank launched this scheme at a programme held at Adavi Somapura village in Gadag district recently.