Odisha Govt Launches ‘Ama Bank’ to Provide Banking in Unbanked GPs

Bhubaneswar: In an effort to provide banking services in unbanked panchayats of Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Ama Bank’ scheme on Tuesday.

To mark the beginning of this innovative scheme, the CM virtually inaugurated 754 Customer Service Point (CSP) Plus banking outlets in the first phase to extend financial inclusion of rural areas.

Out of 6,798 gram panchayats (GPs) in the state, 4,373 GPs do not have brick and mortar branches. The CSP Plus outlets will be opened in these GPs to cater to people’s banking needs.

The government targets to open CSP Plus outlets in 4,373 panchayats by March, 2024. Odisha government has allocated Rs 500 crore for the scheme.

Six PSU banks signed MoU with the Odisha government on September 13 to implement the scheme. These banks are State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Union Bank of India (UBI), UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda (BoB).