CHANDIGARH: A new branch of the Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank Ltd. was opened on Friday at Village Dhanas. Deputy Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T.,  R.K. Rao inaugurated it.

The new branch of the bank will cater credit requirements of Village Dhanas, Milk Colony Dhanas, Village Sarangpur and adjoining areas of these Villages, which are non-banked areas and will provide banking facilities to the general public.

Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Administrator of the Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank,  I.S. Sandhu and Additional Registrar, Cooperative Societies,  R.S. Verma were also present on this occasion.

The Deputy Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.T., Chandigarh impressed upon the management of the bank that the Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank should
take a lead by providing timely and adequate credit facilities at competitive rates to the unprivileged sections of the society in U.T., Chandigarh. He emphasized that the Ministry of Finance, Government of India has decided 100% financial inclusion of U.T. Chandigarh. The new branch of the Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank will have a pivotal role in financial inclusion of this Village and nearby colonies/ villages.

By opening a new branch in non-banked rural area, the bank has initiated steps for financial inclusion to deliver banking services at affordable cost to the disadvantaged and low-income
groups.  Rao advised the bank to open No Frills Accounts of the underprivileged sections of the society. Since most of the agricultural land in the Union Territory has been acquired for service sector and urbanized living, hence Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies have become non-viable.

There is hardly any agricultural land left in the Union Territory, Chandigarh, and there is little scope of promoting Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies, the emphasis of the bank should now be to improve the living conditions of service providers functioning as individuals in the city by organizing them into urban cooperative groups. Their empowerment through these cooperative Self-Help Groups will help them to achieve economic independence and self-respect.

I.S. Sandhu, ADC-cum-Administrator of the bank explained that the bank has formed Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of the weaker sections of the society in the Villages and colonies by providing credit to them so that they should start their own business and can be self-reliant. In this series, the Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank Ltd. has already taken a lead by forming 21 SHGs in UT, Chandigarh and credit linking of 8 SHGs has also been made.

The bank will make the credit linking of all remaining SHGs and more new SHGs will be formed during the financial year 2007-2008. The bank has issued Swarojgar Credit Cards to 102 unemployed youths to start their own business in UT,  Chandigarh during the year 2006-07.