Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on Friday asked the bankers to connect all the unbanked villages in the state by 26th January 2022.
Attending the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) meeting for the quarter-ended September 2021 held at the Civil Secretariat here, the Chief Secretary said that due to the geographical characteristics of the state the coverage of banking in the remote areas still remains “a challenge”.
He, however, said, “Irrespective of the challenge, we have done reasonably well in the last few years to reach the uncovered areas.”
“Whatever is left should be taken in a mission mode, and by 26th January 2022 we should make zero uncovered area in Arunachal Pradesh,” he told the bankers.
As per the latest report presented before the Chief Secretary, there are 46 unbanked villages in Arunachal Pradesh. The villages are remotely located across 8 districts of the state with a very sparse population ranging from 4 (Hot Spring village, Kibitho, Anjaw) as the lowest to 1571 (Khasa village, Longding) as the highest number of population.
Kumar suggested that these unbanked villages may either be covered by bank branches, customer service points, or IPPB (India Post Payments Bank). The State Bank of India, Arunachal Pradesh
State Co-operative Apex Bank, ICICI and others were allotted the “task” to cover the 46 unbanked locations of the state.
While reviewing the progress made under Government sponsored schemes like, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Swavalamban Yojana (DDUSY), Atma Nirbhar Bagwani Yojana and Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojana, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and others, the CS told that the main objective of these schemes are to handhold the farmers, young and upcoming entrepreneurs, and SHGs with some financial subsidies from the Government for their livelihood and economic activities so that they become financially capable and independent.
Stating that it is the responsibility of every bank to handhold the farmers, upcoming entrepreneurs, and SHGs, he requested the bankers to give priority to the applicants seeking loans under the government sponsored schemes and be a part of the economic development of the state.
Stressing on financial literacy of the people, the Chief Secretary asked the banking institutions to conduct financial awareness workshops and camps on a regular basis in the districts.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary (Finance) Sharat Chauhan, Commissioner (Planning) Prashant S Lokhande, Secretary (Finance) Y W Ringu, Secretary (Rural Development) Amarnath Talwade, Secretary (Industries) Hage Tari, senior officials of SBI, NABARD, APRB, KVIC, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, HDFC, Indian Bank and others.
