Balrampur (Chhattisgarh): At a time when financial services across India have been adversely impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic, 'bank sakhis' of a little-known Chhattisgarh district are making sure that villagers get their due payments.
Bank Sakhis, or women banking facilitators, came into being in Balrampur district in Chhattisgarh a year ago, under an initiative undertaken by the district collector.
Though Balrampur, on the Jharkhand border, is majorly a tribal district, the bank sakhis have ensured that economic activity stays alive in the region, even though it has largely been cut-off from the rest of the country due to the lockdown.
The bank sakhis go door to door, and deliver MNREGA payments, various pensions, and even gas subsidies to the villagers. As a result, the villagers do not have to take the trouble to travel to the bank. Further, there is no crowding at the branch, which is proving to be extremely beneficial during the pandemic.
"We go village to village every day and deliver various payments to the villagers. During such a time, it is tough for them to travel to the bank, so we visit them instead," said Ranjita Mandal, a bank sakhi.
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The bank sakhis take utmost care while visiting the villages. They make it a point to ensure social distancing while making transactions, and make proper use of facemasks, gloves and sanitiser.
Balrampur Collector, Sanjiv Kumar Jha informed that 81 bank sakhis have been working in the district under the initiative. The 468 villages in the district have been divided into clusters of six villages each, which means each sakhi has been given the responsibility of one cluster.
Villagers in the 468 villages have opened a total of 2,88,000 jandhan accounts.
Jha said that with the sakhis providing door-step financial services, the amount of daily transactions is also high, which means each sakhi gets a good amount of commission for her work.
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