BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, one of the members in the committee of chief ministers to prepare a roadmap for the promotion of digital payment, today said that he will ensure the improvement of banking system in rural areas.
"I will work towards better banking facilities which are lacking at present in lots of rural parts of the state as well as other parts of the country," Patnaik told reporters here.
With the rural areas facing an acute cash crunch, the Chief Minister has recently requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to authorise District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) to exchange old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 and take deposits of these note from customers.
Stating that the DCCBs have been playing a pivotal role in the state by dispensing crop loans to the extent of 65 percent through their affiliated Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS)
and cater to around 44 lakh agricultural families under Kisan Credit Card scheme, the Chief Minister in a letter to Modi had said withdrawal of exchange facility from the cooperative banks will adversely affect the farmers in the peak of agricultural operations.
Patnaik was the first chief minister of the country to support the demonitisation move of the Prime Minister followed by his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar.
The committee of chief ministers constituted by NITI Aayog today is headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister by N Chandrababu Naidu. The other members include Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh
Chouhan, Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling, Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
The 13-member committee also comprises NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya, Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant and five special invitees including former Chairman, UIDAI, Nandan Nilekani.