RBI reaches out to 200 villages, including Pavoor

RBI reaches out to 200 villages, including Pavoor

Mangalore Today News Network

Kasargod, Dec 20: Mr. G. Gopalakrishna, the executive director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Central Office informed that the RBI plans to include over 200 Indian villages under its outreach programme. He was speaking to press persons on the occasion of an RBI outreach programme in Pavoor, Kasargod district.

He informed press people that the purpose of the outreach programme is to reach out to the people living in remote villages. The outreach programme will be progress till April, after which the villages will be closely monitored to see that they meet the required standards in availability of banking facilities. 

Mr. Gopalkrishna said that only 33,000 of the six lakh villages in India enjoy banking facilities. The RBI aims to carry banking facilities to at least 2 lakh villages by the end of 2011. This could be done either by establishing brick-and-mortar branches or by introducing ICT-based branchless banking. The RBI hopes that banking facilities will reach every individual in India by the next 5 years. 

Mr. S Ramaswamy, the regional director of RBI, Thiruvananthapuram, spoke to the villagers during this occasion. Mr. Ram Prakash, the chairman of North Malabar Grameen Bank said that the RBI’s satellite branch will begin its services in Pavoor soon. 

A number of representatives of cooperative institutions, banks, and self-help groups participated in the RBI outreach programme in Pavoor.