Bank expansion sluggish in villages

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the banks claim to have achieved the targets of financial inclusion in the State, opening of branches has still a long way to go in the designated villages. As per the guidelines, ultra small branches are to be opened in villages with over 5,000 population in under-banked districts and 10,000 population in other districts. Accordingly, 83 centres have been identified for opening such branches in the State. As on December 31, 2011, 38 such branches have been opened. The rest should be established by the end of September 2012, State Level Bankers Committee has stressed. Under the financial inclusion plan, 1,877 villages with more than 2,000 population had been identified for provisioning of banking services. As on December 31, 2011, banking facilities have been provided in 1,662 villages. The 126th SLBC meeting, which was held here on Friday, has also directed the banks to focus more on extending finance to the MSME sector. All banks should ensure total coverage of targets allotted under SGSY, WSHGs, SJSRY and PMEGP schemes for the 2011-12 fiscal, the committee emphasised. Reviewing the performance of the financial institutions, including banks, the Committee  noted that achievement of banks across all sectors was 55 per cent of the Annual Credit Plan 2010-11. The percentage of priority sector advances to total advances has, however, been 55.73 per cent against the national parameter of 40 per cent.