LDRB makes a mark in rural banking

From a Correspondent

DIPHU, Jan 8: The chairman of Langpi Dehangi Rural Bank (LDRB),  a subsidiary unit of State Bank of India, Paritosh Kar Purkayastha, after rendering service for three–and–half years, will hand over charge to new chairman KC Das within a couple of days. Talking to media persons on Thursday, Purkayastha spoke about the role of LDRB in rural banking.

The bank was established in January, 1982 with 50 per cent share of the Government of India and 13 per cent share of the Assam Government and the bank was made responsible to extend benefits of banking in the two autonomous hill districts of Assam. Predomintly void of both surface and electronic communication, it was a tough challenge for the LDRB officers to penetrate among the rural masses of Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong.

In the absence of substantial government deposit, comparatively high rate of credit interest and limited area of operation, this rural bank’s journey was not easy. But the bank now has 57 branches and 34 customer service points covering Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts. Out of the total functioning branches, 47 are located in rural and semi–urban areas of Karbi Anglong while 10 are functioning in Dima Hasao. He informed that 16 more customer service points on the model of Kiosk banking model were on the anvil.

Purkayastha said that all branches were computerized and had introduced debit card, Kisan Card, SMS alert and advanced system of money transfer like NEFT and RTGS. Under the PMJDY scheme, 79,310 accounts had been opened till date.