Banks in all panchayats in Odisha soon

Swetaparna Published On : Feb 22, 2016 at 5:30 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 22:

All panchayats across Odisha will soon have a commercial bank branch, said a top official of the state government.

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“Banks will be opened in panchayats which have no bank branches,” informed state chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi after the State Level Bankers’ (SLB) meet here today.

Padhi admitted 75 percent of panchayats in the state have no banks.

“The situation is such that 80-90 percent panchayats in the four backward districts of Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Nuapada have no banks,” Padhi told reporters.

The chief secretary said the state government has planned to facilitate opening of 60 bank branches in these four backward districts.

“The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh each for opening of each branch. The panchayat office building can be used for functioning of the bank branch,” Padhi said.