Bhubaneswar, July 1: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday held a high-level meeting with representatives of ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank at Lok Seva Bhavan, urging them to increase their involvement in various welfare schemes aimed at supporting the poor and economically weaker sections.
Highlighting the banks' lacklustre performance in Odisha under major welfare initiatives such as agricultural loans, the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), PM SVANidhi, Stand Up India, housing and education loans, and export finance, the Chief Minister expressed concern over their limited outreach. As a result of this underperformance, the state government delisted the three banks from its Empanelled List on June 21.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government is implementing several transformative welfare programmes for the poor. Banks play a pivotal role in enabling financial access for beneficiaries. Unfortunately, your performance in Odisha has not matched expectations,” CM Majhi said during the meeting.
He advised the banks to proactively extend credit under schemes that directly benefit the poor and promote self-employment and income generation.
Responding to the Chief Minister’s concerns, bank representatives assured the state government of their commitment to improving performance. They expressed willingness to increase lending under the identified schemes and promised visible progress in the near future.
Chief Secretary Shashwat Mishra was also present and briefed the Chief Minister on the current status of the banks’ participation in government schemes.
