Ranchi: Finance Minister Rajendra Singh today said that the banks in rural areas should have liaisoning officers to guide its customers and the banks should treat rich and poor customers with equal respect.
Speaking at the 47th meeting of State Level Banker�s Committee (SLBC) held today at the Hotel Radisson Blu, he asked the banks to increase their coverage in the rural areas. He said that development of the state should be the prime concern of all the banks. SLBC is an important forum for discussing public policy of funding by banks in a state.
Chief Secretary Sajal Chakraverty, speaking at the meeting said that the banks for inclusive development should reach out to the poor people. He said that banks should educate the people about various schemes that were beneficial to them. The top officials, he said should provide for regular monitoring of the schemes and must co-ordinate with the concerned officials for the proper functioning of the schemes.
At the meeting Development Commissioner Sudhir Prasad stressed on providing security in banks. Referring to the issue of direct fund transfer to panchayats, he said that it should be monitored in real-time basis and details should be provided to the nodal Department of state government.
Information Technology Principal Secretary N.N. Sinha said that there should be a common platform for the proper inter-operability in banks. He said that by formulating e-KYC (Electronic-Know Your Customer) the banks can resolve the issues of manpower and also data mismatch.
Agriculture Secretary N.M Kulkarni mentioned about rectification in the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) applications as there is no concept of revalidating KCC. He said that the banks should dispose these applications within 15 days time. He proposed for extending the period of crop insurance cover.
The SLBC started with welcome address by General Manager Jain Bhushan and inaugural address was by Bank of India Executive Director R. Koteeswaran.
Principal Secretary Home, N.N. Pandey, Industry Secretary Himani Pandey, RBI General Manger, Sourav Sinha, NABARD Chief General Manager K.C. Panda along with officials from different banks were present during the meeting.
