By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: State Bank of India (SBI) chairman, Pratip Chaudhuri on Tuesday said that the Bank will make all efforts to spread its services to the rural areas of the State where banking facilities are yet to reach the common man.
The SBI had recently launched the Bank on Wheels to provide financial transaction facilities to people from the internal areas of the State.
While talking to media persons here in the city, Chaudhuri said, “We will incorporate ten more vehicles under this scheme (bank on wheels) so that more villages can be covered.”
Meanwhile, a senior official from the SBI said that the Bank is also providing financial transaction facilities in rural areas through the Common Service Centres (CSCs) which have been opened by the State Government.
It may be mentioned that the SBI has 92 branches in the State with a deposit transaction of almost Rs 4300 crore.
Reacting to a query, the official said that the Bank is keen to open exchange counters in Border Haats while adding that the organisation has been able to make a transaction of Rs 3 lakh in the Kalaichar Border Haat.
Speaking on the occasion, Chaudhuri said that this year the SBI has made a profit of Rs 11,700 crore which is the highest so far.
Meanwhile, despite State Bank of India (SBI) claims of circulating coins at regular intervals, the city faces perennial shortage of coins of small denomination.
The SBI chairman also expressed concern over the shortage of coins here.
“The supply of coins need to be increased so that common men do not suffer,” he said.
“We will work with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase the supply (of coins),” Chaudhuri added.
Meanwhile, an official of the SBI said that the coins are being distributed at regular intervals to Trader’s Association. The official also asserted that the SBI had issued 15 lakh pieces of coins last year and has already issued five lakh pieces this year.
It may be mentioned that the SBI had also installed a coin vending machine in its main branch but the bank authorities hardly inserted coins in the machine.
Reacting to this, the SBI chairman directed the bank authorities to maintain the coin vending machine in a proper way.