By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 18, 2017 : Odisha government on Saturday asked commercial banks to extend their outreach to the unbanked gram panchayats and enhance credit flow to agriculture and allied sectors.

Addressing the 146th State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting here, finance minister PK Amat said, “linkages from deposit to credit and from credit to economic activity is very crucial for financial inclusion.”

Expressing serious concern over poor credit deposit ratio in Odisha, Amat said, per RBI data the credit deposit (CD) ratio of the commercial banks in Odisha was around 42 per cent against the all India ratio of 73 per cent at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal.

He underscored the need for bridging this gap and step up their medium term credit advance as by the end of the third quarter of the current financial year the banks had achieved around 47 per cent of the NABARD credit potential.

Amat called upon the banks to rise to the occasion and achieve the credit potential target fixed by NABARD to the tune of Rs 66,555 crore during the year 2017-18.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi said the SLBC had decided to extend banking services to 4383 unbanked GPs within a specified time period. He also suggested that the internet providers and mobile companies should be invited to the SLBC for expansion of data connectivity services.

Finance Secretary T K Pandey said that expansion of banking services in LWE (left wing extremism) areas was a priority agenda of both the central and state governments.

As Maoist acivities have been reduced in many places of the state during the past couple of years, Pandey said the banks might operate in many such areas.

The Committee also discussed the issues relating to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, performance of commercial banks under social security schemes, implementation of MUDRA yojana, incentivizing of digital payment, interest subvention scheme for short term crop loan, credit advance to MS&ME, crop insurance, operation of ATMs in the State, enhancing CD ratio, achievement of annual credit plan, scheme wise non-performing asset ( NPA) doubling of farmers income by the year 2022, short and long term credit to fish farms and handicraft units, technology transfer for development of horticulture etc.