Kohima, July 30: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today called upon public sector banks to fulfil their social obligations by expanding their activities in the State to achieve the Centre’s goal of banking or financial inclusion.
Speaking at a function here, the chief minister said the stated goal of financial inclusion put a challenge as well as an opportunity before the PSU banks to extend their services to the unbanked blocks in the State.
Rio regretted that except the SBI which have branches in all the districts, all other banks mostly confined their business at Kohima and Dimapur towns. He suggested that if it was not possible for the banks to open branches in remote places they should embark on alternative options such as banking correspondences and financial intermediaries to achieve financial inclusion, adding that village development boards (VDB) could be roped in to play the role of banking intermediaries in Nagaland.
The chief minister also suggested the banks, particularly the SBI, to undertake banking literacy programme in the state where the people have been conditioned to only grants, assistance or subsidies, a culture which has ultimately deprived many young people from venturing into bank loans other services.
Rio, who was speaking on the occasion of inauguration of new premises of a SBI branch here, regretted that against the national average of credit-deposit (CD) ratio of over 70, the ratio in Nagaland was only 36 in November 2009 which again came down to 31 in March 2010. (PTI)