BHUBANESWAR: In a major push to cover 4,373 unbanked gram panchayats under the financial inclusion programme, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday launched ‘Ama Bank’ for providing banking services through customer service point (CSP) Plus banking outlets. Launching the programme online from Lokseva Bhavan, the chief minister said 750 panchayats will get banking services through CSP outlets in the first phase and the remaining panchayats will be covered by March 2024.“Ama Bank model is the first-of-its-kind in the country and I am sure it will be role model for other states,” Patnaik said.
He said, “No state or country can attain inclusive growth without achieving financial inclusion of its people. Odisha has become a role model for others in economic development, social development, digital transformation and good governance.”
The chief minister said that delivery of services to the last mile in a fair and transparent manner has been the highest priority agenda of the government under 5T initiative. The CSP Plus banking outlets will empower the people by providing credit for small businesses. As many as 15 banking services will be available through these outlets and steps have been taken to provide doorstep services to elderly, differently-abled persons and pregnant women, he added.
The chief minister said about 65 per cent of the total 6,798 gram panchayats do not have a brick and mortar bank branch leading to difficulties in accessing banking services and availing government benefits under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes. Therefore, the state government in collaboration with six public sector banks namely State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda has come up with the “Ama Bank” scheme for providing banking services to all unbanked GPs.
He said the state government is providing rent free banking space for five years. The state government will also bear one-time expenses for fixed cost and recurring expenses for a period of three years. A provision of Rs 500 crore has been made for this scheme.
Finance minister Bikram Keshari Arukha said the state has been able to bring transformational changes in the financial sector due to the strong leadership of the chief minister. Chairman 5T and Nabin Odisha VK Pandian said that it would have taken 30 years to reach all the panchayats at the pace at which banks are opening brick and mortar branches. However, it was possible to reach all panchayats due to the chief minister’s vision.