Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Finance Department of the Odisha government on Wednesday entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six Public Sector Banks (PSBs), namely State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda for providing banking services in all unbanked Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the State through CSP Plus banking outlets, said an official press release. Financial inclusion is a high priority agenda of the Government. It is still a critical challenge since banking penetration in the state is quite low and not uniform across the districts. Out of 6798 GPs, around 65% of GPs (4373 GPs) do not have brick and mortar branches.
Every GP in the State has to have a brick and mortar branch since banking is a necessary service for financial inclusion. This will make it easier for people to access banking services and will enhance the Direct Benefit Transfer system in the State.
In order to provide banking services to every GP through CSP Plus banking facilities, the government of Odisha has proposed a bold plan. Within the current fiscal year 2023–2024, the program will be introduced gradually to include all unbanked general practitioners in the State. For a period of five years, the Odisha government would offer rent-free banking premises. For a period of three years, the State Government will additionally cover one-time costs for fixed costs and recurrent costs. 500 billion rupees have been set out for the program.
This is one of the most significant projects undertaken by any State Government to change and advance financial inclusion in keeping with the CM’s 5T Mantra.
