Bhubaneswar, July 10: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday requested the Central Government to advise all banks at their apex level to open Brick and Mortar (B&M) Branches in unbanked gram panchayats (GPs) in the State.
Attending the 27th Eastern Zonal Council meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Ranchi, Majhi said, “Necessary steps may also be taken for redressal of the internet connectivity issues at the GP level for encouraging banks to open B&M Branches. Fixed component of Commission along with variable commission to Business Correspondents may be increased by Commercial Banks to check their attrition rate.”
The CM said, “Out of 6794 GPs in the State, only 2421 GPs have Brick & Mortar Branches. The remaining 4373 GPs do not have any Brick & Mortar Branch. Further, the geographical penetration of banks in the State is quite low.”
There are 42,035 fixed point Banking Correspondents (BCs) operating in the State as on December 31, 2024. However, BCs have high attrition and their own limitation in terms of services offered and cash handling. Network issues also impede their operations in the remote areas. Besides, banks are not following uniform guidelines / procedure for the services offered commission paid to BCs. IPPB has only 33 branches and 8929 facility access points in the State. However, they are not covering all unbanked GPs in the State.
“In order to meet the banking needs in unbanked/under banked GPs, State Government in collaboration with six Public Sector Banks has launched scheme for providing banking services to all unbanked GPs of the State through CSP Plus banking outlets. Odisha is the only State in the country to adopt such unique model of financial inclusion,” said CM Majhi.
“The Customer Service Point (CSP) Plus Banking Outlets are providing major banking services just like a Brick & Mortar branch. So far, 2742 CSP Plus outlets are opened in 2742 unbanked GPs covering all 30 districts. The remaining 1631 unbanked GPs will be covered by CSP plus outlets shortly,” added the Chief Minister.
Majhi also submitted that the State Government is making necessary arrangement for providing Electricity Connection and Internet connectivity for smooth functioning of the CSP Plus banking outlets in all unbanked GPs of the State also bearing the one-time Fixed cost component including banking space and monthly recurring cost for specified items for first 3 years since opening of CSP Plus outlets.
“In this context, we request Govt. of India to kindly advise all Banks at their apex level to open Brick and Mortar Branches in unbanked GPs in the State of Odisha. Necessary steps may also be taken for redressal of the internet connectivity issues at the GP level for encouraging banks to open B&M Branches. Fixed component of Commission along with variable commission to Business Correspondents may be increased by Commercial Banks to check their attrition rate,” urged the CM.
