RBI reaches Rey-Mindu with Financial Outreach Programme

GANGTOK: A Financial Outreach programme, organized by the Reserve Bank of India [RBI] was held at Rey-Mindu village, on Sunday.
The chief guest, S Kurrupasamy [Executive Director, RBI, Mumbai], while addressing the function explained that the Chief Minister’s Rural Universal Financial Inclusion programme was focused to make the rural people financially secure by inculcating a habit of saving. He added that by March 2012, every village in Sikkim will be provided with banking facilities.

“Introduction of Financial Inclusion, which has a number of schemes under it, is for people from rural areas and they should utilize it well because the development of a county is assured only when there is development in rural areas,” stated Mr. Kurrupasamy.
“To sustain the development process, financial knowledge is very important, so the heads of the different RBI Branch should visit every village to provide financial knowledge to the villagers,” he added.
EE Karthok [General Manager, RBI, Gangtok], in turn, informed that three villages - Rey-Mindu and Samdur in East and Darap in West District have been adopted by RBI for its Business Correspondents Model, which will reach door-to-door banking facilities to the villagers through different correspondents. Besides these facilities they will organize different banking awareness programmes in villages as well,” he said.
AK Ganeriwala [Secretary, RMDD] added that with the establishment of RBI in Sikkim last year, lots of earnest banking initiatives have begun here. Good banking facilities in Sikkim will assist the State government’s mission of making Sikkim a poverty free state, he underlined.
The programme was also addressed by BK Dey [General Manager, NABARD] and Basantan [Banking Ombudsman, Kolkata]. Other dignitaries present at the function were Urvashi Poudyal [BDO Ranka], Yadav [AGM] and other banking officials.
A cultural programme and quiz competitions were also held.