By IANS,
Kolkata : State-run United Bank of India (UBI) will extend banking services to 1,612 villages of West Bengal that have a population of more than 2,000 by March 2013, a top bank official said Friday.
The state has a total of 7,484 villages with more than 2,000 population.
“In the first phase, we had reached out to 1,106 villages during the last financial year. We will extend banking services in another 412 villages by September this year,” UBI chairman and managing director Bhaskar Sen said during an interactive session, organised by MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.
Sen said the Kolkata-based bank has a target of covering additional 1,200 villages in the third phase by March next year.
Public sector banks either open brick and mortar branches or use business correspondents to reach out to unbanked villages.
Sen said low credit-deposit ratio (CDR) in West Bengal is a very “sensitive issue” and a State Level Bankers’ Committee has formed a sub-committee to look into it.
“A SLBC sub-committee has been formed in West Bengal to look into the different issues. The committee has already discussed at length about it. It is working on this,” he said.
Low CDR in the state, as compared to other states, has been a matter of long-term concern. It was around 65 percent in March, 2011 against the national average of 76.3 percent.