To reach the farmers and other people in remote areas of the state, the Odisha State Cooperative Bank Limited (OSCB) today launched 'Banks of Wheels' scheme in 20 backward blocks covering 16 districts.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the facility here with 20 'Banks on Wheels' vehicles starting their journey to remote and tribal dominated blocks of the state.
The 'Banks on Wheels' by the OSCBL is the first of its kind facility in the country, the state cooperation minister Damodar Rout said.
"The state government would like to see all the 314 blocks of Odisha get the Banks on Wheels facility. We will chalk out a plan for the purpose after accessing the impact of the OSCBL's success," Patnaik said.
The districts to be covered by Banks on Wheels are Keonjhar, Koraput, Sundergarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Malkangiri, Nawrangpur, Rayagada and Nayagarh.
The Bank on Wheels units would go to the blocks where there have been no banking facilities, the minister said.
They would have facilities like ATM, information kiosk and full-fledged branch for providing financial inclusion service to the farmers in the tribal areas of the state, OSCB Managing Director T K Panda said.
Patnaik also inaugurated the Core Banking Data Management Centre here to provide connectivity to all branches of OSCB and District Central Cooperative Banks for providing core banking service (CBS).
The OSCB has also become a member of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and has issued RuPay ATM Debit Cards that are accessible at 1.88 lakh ATMs of all the banks across the country.
