Ampati : In order to create general awareness on financial inclusion and various financial schemes, a day-long Mega Financial Literacy & Credit Counselling Camp was organized by State Bank of India, Ampati Branch in collaboration with the District Administration, South West Garo Hills under Financial Information Forum managed by NABARD at Ampati on Thursday.
Delivering the keynote address on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner of the District, CVD Diengdoh said that this programme was being organized to spread the message of financial inclusion and make the people of the district aware of the benefits of opening bank accounts and various financial schemes and also discuss the problems and issues faced by the people particularly after recent demonetization. He informed that the District Administration has held series of meetings with the bankers and officials concerned to ease the problems of the people post demonetization and said that there was a need for more of such interaction between the bankers and the people. He also spoke of the need for opening more ATMs in the district and called upon the people to identify an appropriate land or space available in their respective villages and inform the authorities concerned for possibilities of setting up ATMs.
The Deputy Commissioner also informed the gathering that all payments for Government schemes like MGNREGS, Old Age pension, etc would be routed through their respective bank accounts and called upon VECs and village secretaries to ensure that all job card holders open their accounts and register their bank accounts with the BDOs.
AGM, RBI, Shillong, L. Hangmuanthang deliberated at length on Financial Inclusion and benefits of opening bank accounts. He highlighted on the constraints and negativities of cash economy, adding that financial inclusion or bringing every citizen into the financial fold was the first step in moving towards cashless economy.
Chief Manager, Lead Bank i/c West, South and South West Garo Hills, K. Leivang, spoke about how to cover unbankable areas through basic minimum banking services like banking correspondents (BCs), Customer Service Points (CSPs) and POS machines and informed that there are only six SBI CSPs in South West Garo Hills till date.
Deputy Commissioner of Labour, M.N. Marak, who highlighted on Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, FI Manager, RBO, Sameer Dey and Branch Manager, SBI Ampati A.W. Momin were among others who also spoke on the occasion. An interactive session was also held as part of the programme where the villagers were given the opportunity to interact with the bankers regarding their problems, doubts and apprenhensions, while a video presentation was made to create awareness to the audience on internet banking.
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